He's saying that the tests don't provide reliable positive or negative evidence in the first place and that untrained BOP staffers are misusing and misinterpreting the tests. To avoid that scenario, some incarcerated people are no longer accepting mail, which cuts off an important way to get in touch with their attorneys during the pandemic, the lawsuit alleges. Federal inmates trying to fight NIK test determinations are caught in a bind: They have no procedural grounds to challenge their punishment as long as these tests are considered "some evidence," but none of them can get far enough in court to challenge the validity of that evidence, even though there is an ample record to support their claimsincluding from the government itself. The advantages of such tests for law enforcement are that they're cheap, they're portable, and they don't require a chemistry degree to use. Best Spice Paper Worldwide. From the May 2023 issue, Daryl James and Erica Smith Ewing In 2013, Travis County, Texas, stopped accepting guilty pleas for low-level drug possession before official crime lab results came in. "The prisons have really gone off on their own to use it as this kind of one and only definitive test for whatever punishment or other purposes they're using it for. LINCOLN A new form of easily concealed synthetic marijuana is causing increased work, as well as concerns about overdoses, increased assaults and staff safety, at jails and prisons in Nebraska. By switching their illicit smuggling ventures to K2 or Spice theyre lessening the consequences that theyll face when caught., The Federal Correction Institution (FCI) in Forrest City Arkansas was given as an example. "It's just not designed to work that way. The latest security screening technology can help keep officers and inmates safe by mitigating the risk of unrest, illness and debt which often result from access to illicit goods and improvised or smuggled weapons. "It used to be marijuana or something else. Texas' prison system conducts random drug tests on convicts and staff at a cost of about $10 each. The searches turned up what prosecutors described as an "unusually large amount of drugs" including K2, cocaine, meth, and items clearly too bulky to mail in like marijuana, bags of pills, jars of alcohol and 74 cell phones. Copyright 2023 Corrections1. One man began to dance around like a ballerina. K2 begins as a liquid that can be sprayed on any kind of paper product, like letters. This combination is designed to provide relief from opioid withdrawal symptoms without giving the user a high. Ciaramella It took eight or nine officers to get him under control.". 'Inmates are very creative in here': Paper laced with K2 being mailed Testifying in the case, Allison Baca, a criminalist at the California Department of Justice, said that the agency does not use the term "false positive" when talking about color tests, because they do not consider such tests to be either positive or negative. Crime: Killing and dismembering 3-year-old Adam Gomez of Scottsbluff in 1999 and feeding some of his remains to a dog. More extensive screening tests that detect K2 can cost more than six times that, officials said . Contraband Suboxone and synthetic marijuana come in many forms, and inmates and their associates are endlessly inventive when it comes to smuggling them behind bars. Liquid K2 in prisons can be used in various ways and it would surely let the inmates have a relaxing and peaceful time. According to documents filed by the BOP in a 2019 lawsuit by Vasquez-Maldonado challenging his punishment, a BOP officer tested a fresh ink cartridge to see if a false positive resulted, but it did not. She once tried to send her incarcerated client, Eugene Ivey, a legal package months after he was granted parole. . The footage shows the officer performing a NARK II test for methamphetamines, which turned dark red instead of blue, indicating a negative result, according to the manufacturer. One attorney named as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, James P. McKenna, alleged that after he sent his incarcerated client court documents and a letter in 2018, he received a call from an officer at the prison that his mail had tested positive for K2. Prison officials told VICE News they suspect that inmates have been receiving letters soaked in a liquid form of K2. Nebraska Corrections, for instance, now bans shipments of books from Amazon and restricts purchases to one company, Edward R. Hamilton, which specializes in providing reading materials for correctional facilities. "One guy was on the floor in a medical emergency. There was a problem saving your notification. AUSTIN, TexasIt's the zombies that freak everybody out. K2 is a mix of chemicals that, when applied to a substance like tobacco, potpourri or paper, becomes a . Vasquez-Maldonado's lawsuit was dismissed. Most of our assaults (of staff) are linked to K2, he said. When we got locked down this guy went totally crazy. When youre this short (of staff), it really limits your options, he said. "When they find that group, they then proceed to go through a reaction that has a color as its product.". Before that, authorities said it was even harder to bust anyone - even convicts - for possessing it. Outside of prison, those accused of drug possession based on a field test at least have some recourse to the criminal court system, where the high standards of evidence require presumptive positive field tests to be confirmed by crime labs. K2 begins as a liquid that can be sprayed on any kind of paper product, like letters. Shop Now Free Shipping Its not the same kind of rush the user might get from a narcotic like fentanyl, but for an addict or someone looking to get high, it's better than nothing. Rated 5.00 out of 5 based on 5 customer ratings. While his case was dragging through court, though, Steffey got an unexpected reprieve. They can be easily purchased online, and they're simple to use. The extra searches are stressing staffing levels, especially at the Tecumseh State Prison, which currently has 135 job vacancies, said Chipman, the union chief. I refuse to believe that every defense attorney in Massachusetts is suddenly a drug dealer.. The problem of drugs and alcohol and other contraband in prisons is age-old, he said. Heather Harris is an assistant professor of forensic science at Arcadia University who trains future chemists to use these color tests. Unlike in the federal prison system, Massachusetts prisons send all field tests to outside labs for confirmation. He told me he never rapped in his life, but that was all he could do to not lose his mind. Not only was he concerned about how the K2 accusations would impact him, McKenna was worried about his client. In recent months, prison investigators said they have conducted searches and busts on visitation days at several prisons as well as by searching prison employees' vehicles in random parking lot sweeps. Steffey is no longer incarcerated, but he is still trying to fight the BOP for stripping him of good behavior credits and throwing him in solitary confinement for five months based on what he says is an unverified test with a well-established track record of leading to wrongful arrests. 'K2 is the new drug of choice' in Texas prisons, official says Although lab test results later proved his innocence, Ivey was traumatized by his confinement and horrified by the potential consequences he mightve undeservedly faced, according to the lawsuit. Investigators believe that large amounts of K2 come from the Houston area because it is an overseas importation point. Steffey says he was in fact having federal court records sent to another inmate, sandwiched between some blank divorce forms downloaded off a court website. Getting high and drug use remains a key problem throughout correctional institutions, said Frunzi. "One of the many examples of the NIK testing errors was a case where heroin was identified using a NIK colorimetric test and a second Valtrox colorimetric test," the court wrote in its ruling. A lot of the lawyers that we talked to said that theyre now driving to the prisons where their clients are locatedwhich sometimes takes hoursto hand-deliver letters to be able to communicate with their clients, Leonida said. You can buy the infused A4 plain paper and write a letter to send to your buddy in prison. One such cannabinoid is gaining in popularity in prisons across the nation. Other law enforcement agencies have changed their policies over the last decade. 4.28.2023 4:45 PM, Matt Welch The paper is then cut up into small pieces and smoked. In 2017, correctional officers at FCI Sheridan put Albarca and his cellmate, Carlos Vasquez-Maldonado, in the SHU and accused the two of possessing drugs in their cell. The investigator linked the package to Steffey after finding an email sent to him that included the tracking number of the package. In October of 2015, BBC News reported how investigators concluded the use of Spice in an Oxfordshire prison contributed to an increase in violence. So the incarcerated people who are accused can either quickly accept responsibility and face lesser punishment despite being innocent, or give up privileges and possibly enter solitary confinement while awaiting more accurate lab data. The judge ruled that Fincher hadn't shown that Sirchie's product was defective or that the company had failed to warn law enforcement officers of the tests' shortfalls. to know more about Smiths Detection? He didnt even know what K2 was at the time, according to Leonida. They are both big problems for prison populations, said Dr. Michael Frunzi, senior scientist and business development manager with Smiths Detection, which makes X-ray and other detection tools. Courts give wide latitude to prisons to manage their daily affairs and security, and that extends to prison disciplinary hearings. This helps decrease risk to the CO while ensuring that would-be smugglers are caught and other inmates get their mail. "We hold that the requirements of due process are satisfied if some evidence supports the decision by the prison disciplinary board," the Court wrote. For example, X-ray body scanners have been shown to detect physical concealment of contraband while also deterring future attempts. It's not easy being in prison, and having a little something like Liquid K2 in prisons can surely make it a little easy for them Liquid K2 spray at the largest drug store in USA & Canada Liquid K2 spray has an unlimited number of ways to be used. Skip to content. Meanwhile, low evidence standards make it just about impossible for federal inmates to challenge the results of these tests in court. Mr. This means that a presumptive positive for amphetamines in NIK Test A would be confirmed by NIK Test U by default. Sirchie did not return requests for comment for this story. Crime:kidnapping, raping and murdering Heather Guerrero, a 15-year-old Gering newspaper carrier, in 2003. Prison police say they have also recently busted wives, cousins and children of convicts - even a grandmother - for trying to smuggle K2 into East Texas prisons. Suboxone & K2: 7 things correctional officers need to know Department of Correction sources confirmed a wide-scale investigation was underway at the prison, as well as a warehouse used to store dry goods before they went into the prison. A November 2016 article in The Daily Mail described a documentary, the Secret Life of Prisons, that said drugs (particularly Spice) are widely available. Because the BOP does not require NIK tests for contraband to be independently verified, it's impossible to say how often it happens, butReasonfound at least one case where a federal inmate was punished based on the results of a NIK test that was later invalidated by a crime lab. Inmates have figured out novel ways of smuggling the drugs in, such as lacing paper with liquid K2. Forensic experts say the tests can't be relied on alone; they're not admissible evidence in court; and the manufacturers explicitly warn that all tests should be sent to crime labs to be verified. Reactions may occur with, and such compounds can be found in, both legal and illegal products.". Now it's K2.". Nebraska prisons are implementing a similar system. The Nebraska and Iowa prison systems, as well as the Douglas County Jail, have changed their policies on book purchases. Meyers said smugglers figured out that it was easy to set up a small-business account on Amazon so they could ship books, sprayed with K2, to inmates. Drug Believed To Be Sickening Prison Employees Explained By Addiction Expert CBS Pittsburgh 114K subscribers Subscribe 36K views 4 years ago An addiction expert says he doesn't understand how. Coffee grounds also turned the solution in NIK Test A a dark brown, although it was unclear whether that was the result of a chemical reaction or just the color of the grounds themselves. Right off the bat, when you have a piece of paper and you pull out your field test kit, you've made the wrong decision," she says. Sirchie did not immediately respond to a request for comment. It's not easy being in prison, and having a little something like Liquid K2 in prisons can surely make it a little easy for them Liquid K2 spray at the largest drug store in USA & Canada The other one was fighting us and everyone else. Liquid K2 is the latest contraband problem for Nebraska prisons, jails Paul Hammel Jun 27, 2021 Updated Aug 1, 2022 0 paul.hammel@owh.com, 402-618-0009, twitter.com/paulhammelowh 0 Comments. He specializes in tax and transportation issues, following the governor and the state prison system. Even if there was a flood of K2 coming into the DOC, these tests wouldnt detect it, she added. As guards tried to subdue him, he resisted yelling that it was their fault. We also sell Wholesale K2 Paper Online. The vials can be broken in the wrong order, for example. Although they're not "Club Fed," as tabloid headlines like to joke, the camps are as good as it gets in the BOP system. Terms Of Use, A Home-Based Baker Shouldn't Have To Choose Between Her Dog and Her Business, Biden and Congressional Democrats Support Policies That Will Undermine Their Own Clean Energy Goals. If you do get a red light at a certain batch, you can say one or more letters in this batch are suspect, put them aside and deal with them later.. Open the tools menu in your browser. ( 5 customer reviews) Buy Cannabinoid c-Liquid 5ml Online - Wholesale K2 Paper Online. The ready availability of these substances in prisons seems to be an open secretwe know they are in there, but just dont want to think about it. He had slicked the floor of his cell with liquid soap, probably in case he lost his nerve in the midst of his suicide attempt. ALL TEST RESULTS MUST BE CONFIRMED BY AN APPROVED ANALYTICAL LABORATORY! a note for a NARK II product on Sirchies website reads. It has had a negative impact on my health and my family, as any accusation against Mr. Ivey was effectively an accusation that I committed a serious criminal offense.. C.J. Such is the majesty of the law that a U.S. District Court judge dismissed his suit, ruling that he had suffered no deprivation of due process or cruel or unusual punishment. One prisoner wrote how he received a misconduct report accusing him of having K2 in a bottle he said held only shampoo. Copyright 2023 Corrections1. Liquid K2 diablo - Strongest liquid k2 - K2 Liquid Spray A common smuggling route is to hide the strips under postage stamps, stickers or tape. Do Not Sell My Personal Information, If you need further help setting your homepage, check your browsers Help menu, Sponsored content from top corrections brands, soaking paper in liquid Suboxone and mailing it to inmates.