# US Congressman Trey Radel (R-FL) arrested for cocaine possession. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 19, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298 "2013-11-19T21:54:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/21 "2013-11-20T09:26:14Z")
> [@Trey Radel](#): > > I struggle with the disease of alcoholism, and this led to an extremely irresponsible choice. > [@Rob Ford](#): > > Yes, I have smoked crack cocaine. Probably in one of my drunken stupors I suppose we’ll be hearing the Congressman’s [views on cunnilingus next](http://torontoist.com/2013/11/rob-ford-i-would-never-do-that-im-happily-married-ive-got-more-than-enough-to-eat-at-home/). ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 9:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/22 "2013-11-20T09:33:40Z")
I love how evidently we are all supposed to allow cocaine and crack cocaine use if you are also an alcoholic. I mean, nobody can be blamed for forming a cocaine addiction when in a drunken stupor right? Poor guy. We should all feel sorry for him and vote for his reelection. I mean, if we send him packing, it’ll probably just force him into a gay prostitution habit to make money to fund his crack habit. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/23 "2013-11-20T11:22:12Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I love how evidently we are all supposed to allow cocaine and crack cocaine use if you are also an alcoholic. I mean, nobody can be blamed for forming a cocaine addiction when in a drunken stupor right? Poor guy. We should all feel sorry for him and vote for his reelection. I mean, if we send him packing, it’ll probably just force him into a gay prostitution habit to make money to fund his crack habit. Well, it’s not like he voted for a tax increase. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/24 "2013-11-20T12:57:56Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > [sarcasm] Doesn’t count, he’s not on welfare/food stamps. [/sarcasm] > From the linked article. > > So he cures alcoholism with cocaine? Well, it’s been said once or twice that it’s a helluva drug. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/25 "2013-11-20T17:01:18Z")
> **[Florida Congressman Invited Undercover Police Officer Back To His Apartment...](https://www.businessinsider.com/trey-radel-pleads-guilty-cocaine-charge-probation-2013-11)** Well, he pleaded guilty. Apparently he tried to buy some from an undercover officer whom he met in a restaurant, then invited the UO back to his apartment so they could snort together. Some points/questions here: 1. He bought 3.5 grams. Now I have very little experience with cocaine, but… isn’t that a lot? As in, more than what you would usually get if you were just “experimenting”? How much would this cost in DC? (Back in my college days (late 80s) cocaine would go for $80-100/gram.) 2. He lead the FBI back to his apartment, _and pulled out another vial of cocaine_. WTF? 3. How do you meet some random stranger in the sort of restaurant one would think a US Congressmen would frequent and ask them for cocaine? How does this work? And how did it work that he just asked an undercover cop who was able to fake-sell 3-4 packets of “cocaine” to the guy? Are sting operations like this something that occurs often at this restaurant? ETA: Maybe it was a pre-arranged meet. Didn’t occur to me at all, but that was likely it. 4. Assuming he actually brought the guy to his apartment… anyone else think we missed yet another “Repub found to be gay!” news story here? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/26 "2013-11-20T17:24:17Z")
I don’t have the link at hand, but this morning I read an article noting that he is not a big supporter of the War on Drugs, and even (IIRC) supported decriminalizing marijuana. So I can’t pin that hypocrite label on him. Plus he may be in favor of people not having to be drug tested if they’re ostensibly working for that government check, versus those who are underemployed/unemployed. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/27 "2013-11-20T18:12:53Z")
One year probation. > **[Fla. Rep. Trey Radel to take leave after cocaine guilty plea](https://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/fla-rep-trey-radel-gets-probation-on-cocaine-charge/2153356/)** > > WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Trey Radel, the Fort Myers Republican who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor possession of cocaine on Wednesday, said he would take a leave of absence to get treatment. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/28 "2013-11-20T19:19:02Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > …How do you meet some random stranger in the sort of restaurant one would think a US Congressmen would frequent and ask them for cocaine?.. Maybe the FBI guy was pretneding to be a DEA guy. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/29 "2013-11-20T19:23:11Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > I love how evidently we are all supposed to allow cocaine and crack cocaine use if you are also an alcoholic. I mean, nobody can be blamed for forming a cocaine addiction when in a drunken stupor right? Poor guy. We should all feel sorry for him and vote for his reelection. I mean, if we send him packing, it’ll probably just force him into a gay prostitution habit to make money to fund his crack habit. It’s a disease, okay?! ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/30 "2013-11-20T19:33:51Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I don’t have the link at hand, but this morning I read an article noting that he is not a big supporter of the War on Drugs, and even (IIRC) supported decriminalizing marijuana. So I can’t pin that hypocrite label on him. If you won’t, I will: [Trey Radel, Busted On Cocaine Charge, Voted For Drug Testing Food Stamp Recipients](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/trey-radel-drug-testing_n_4305348.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/31 "2013-11-20T20:32:59Z")
Oh, I already noted that upthread. I was just saying, perhaps he doesn’t think government money should be used for drugs unless you’re working for that check. More specifically, he’s not lock-step with the usual conservative War on Drugs policies that make every little thing (except tobacco) Very Bad and highly penalized. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/32 "2013-11-20T21:07:23Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > One year probation. > [Fla. Rep. Trey Radel to take leave after cocaine guilty plea](http://www.tampabay.com/news/politics/fla-rep-trey-radel-gets-probation-on-cocaine-charge/2153356) Good thing he’s a rich white guy. He’d be spending a year+ in PMITA prison otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/33 "2013-11-20T21:51:55Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > Good thing he’s a rich white guy. He’d be spending a year+ in PMITA prison otherwise. No, it’s too bad he’s not poor, because then he would have never would have had to struggle with the disease of alcoholism and the part where it makes you use cocaine somehow, because it’s wrong for poor people to use drugs and he’s better than that. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/34 "2013-11-20T21:59:43Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > Oh, I already noted that upthread. I was just saying, perhaps he doesn’t think government money should be used for drugs **unless you’re working for that check**. Based on Congress’s preformance the last 4 years, he is not even meeting that standard. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2013, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/35 "2013-11-20T22:01:09Z")
> [@Death\_of\_Rats](#): > > Based on Congress’s preformance the last 4 years, he is not even meeting that standard. 😃 True, I put the weasel-word “ostensibly” in my previous post. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2013, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298/36 "2013-11-21T03:55:51Z")
Has Fux Noize referred to him using the “D” label? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-congressman-trey-radel-r-fl-arrested-for-cocaine-possession/674298.md?page=1)