Just Say No To Ziplock

[Anti-Bunny]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/826059,CST-NWS-bagban05.article Tiny plastic bags used to sell small quantities of heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana and other drugs would be banned in Chicago, under a crackdown advanced Tuesday by a City Council committee. Ald. Robert Fioretti (2nd) persuaded the Health Committee to ban possession of "self-sealing plastic bags under two inches in either height or width," after picking up 15 of the bags on a recent Sunday afternoon stroll through a West Side park.

Lt. Kevin Navarro, commanding officer of the Chicago Police Department's Narcotics and Gang Unit, said the ordinance will be an "important tool" to go after grocery stores, health food stores and other businesses.
A bold new stance from Chicago in the War On Freshness.

[Phil_Stein]

Will they nab my kids when they walk around with little ziplocks with Goldfish crackers and such in them?

[Anti-Bunny]

Will they nab my kids when they walk around with little ziplocks with Goldfish crackers and such in them?

Yes, but more importantly, they will also 'go after' grocery stores, health food stores and other businesses for supplying them.

[Fugitive]

Goldfish crackers are a gateway snack.

[Charles]

This will go down in history as one of the most genius* suggestions ever.


*idiotic.

[LesJarvis]

If you outlaw baggies then only outlaws will have baggies.

[Andrew Mayer]

I use tons of those things for game pieces.

Criminal gamers!

[Doctor Hillbilly]

Actually, I've wondered about who retails these bags myself. They're really small - about 1-2" on a side. This is not the small sandwich bag I in which I pack my kid's lunches. These are tiny, tiny bags good for holding a couple screws. Or some crack.

There's no point to the ban, obviously. Supply and demand will reveal some other means of holding crack cocaine for the retail market. But I used to walk to Columbia from my apartment on 125th and marvel at the enormous number of tiny, empty plastic bags carpeting the upper reaches of Riverside Park.

[Skipper]

I, for one, welcome our new baggieless overlords.

[Machfive]

They should just call it the War on Common Sense and be done with it. Stupid measures like this, mandatory minimums, and all the other unbelievable shit they've come up with simply defy reason.

[Houngan]

"Hello sir, I would like to purchase some crack."

"Crack you say? I happen to have some in stock. How much would you like?"

"Well, I just robbed a store and rolled a homeless guy, so I'll have your finest rock."

"Very good sir, will there be anything else today?"

"No, thank you."

"Here you are, then."

" . . ."

"Is something amiss sir?"

"I perceive that you have placed my crack rock in a folded piece of paper, rather than the usual small plasticine bag."

"We apologize sir, but unfortunately the bag to which you refer is no longer available in this area."

"Ah, I see. In that case, I'm afraid I won't be purchasing this crack after all."

"I'm very disappointed to hear that. I will endeavour to obtain a supply of small bags forthwith."

"Let me know when you do, good vendor, and I shall resume smoking that sweet, sweet pipe."




I really don't see how this can fail to stop drug use completely.

H.

[Funkula]

I like how you can just hear the monocles in that dialogue.

[Dean]

Actually, I've wondered about who retails these bags myself. They're really small - about 1-2" on a side. This is not the small sandwich bag I in which I pack my kid's lunches. These are tiny, tiny bags good for holding a couple screws. Or some crack.

Or game pieces for boardgames.

A friend of mine bought piles of them from the local party store (so maybe they're for party favors?). He bought a lot of boardgames and was a total neatnik about everything being in a bag when it was put away. He was sure the cashiers there thought he was a drug dealer.

[Menzo]

How about all the old people who use these small bags to carry their medication?

[Lunch of Kong]

How about all the old people who use these small bags to carry their medication?

I think they use boxes for that. less chance of crushing the pills.

but, yeah, i think there are only two uses for the small 1'inch baggies: distributing cocaine and storing small board game pieces/computer case screws.

[Don Quixote]

Beads. I buy my small baggies (for storing board game parts, or course) at bead stores.

[Lunch of Kong]

oh, and fish hooks. you can put a bunch of fish hooks and small lead weights in them.

[Lunch of Kong]

and buttons. you can put your spare buttons into them to keep them together with the shirt/jackets they go with.

[Jojo]

I think they use boxes for that. less chance of crushing the pills.

but, yeah, i think there are only two uses for the small 1'inch baggies: distributing cocaine and storing small board game pieces/computer case screws.
And spare buttons. Sometimes when I buy shirts or sweaters with buttons, they come with a little baggie of that size, containing a spare button.

Edit: doh! too slow

[NoWayJose]

A friend of mine bought piles of them from the local party store (so maybe they're for party favors?). He bought a lot of boardgames and was a total neatnik about everything being in a bag when it was put away.
This is a more compelling reason to ban them forever, everywhere.

[Lunch of Kong]

WTF. this law is stupid.

[Funkula]

This is a more compelling reason to ban them forever, everywhere.

Spoken like a man who's never played Arkham Horror.

[nKoan]

Great. Now how will I keep my various powdered sugars separate from each other. Please, won't someone think of the cooks?

[Ephraim]

I use these "Snack Bags", as Glad labels them, all the time for the eponymous purpose. I load them with almonds or Hershey's Kisses and carry them in my school bag for snacks between classes.

I never realized my snack bags were really "crack" bags. Thank goodness the city of Chicago is around to inform me.

[Anti-Bunny]

You can use them for tiny screws and washers and crap.

Or Barbie's Bag Lunch.

[Dumdeedum]

but, yeah, i think there are only two uses for the small 1'inch baggies: distributing cocaine and storing small board game pieces/computer case screws.

Beads. I buy my small baggies (for storing board game parts, or course) at bead stores.

oh, and fish hooks. you can put a bunch of fish hooks and small lead weights in them.

and buttons. you can put your spare buttons into them to keep them together with the shirt/jackets they go with.
The aqueducts?

[Alan Au]

This opens up the path to a black market trade in small re-sealable baggies. Psst! Hey buddy, want to buy some bags?

- Alan

[Qenan]

but, yeah, i think there are only two uses for the small 1'inch baggies: distributing cocaine and storing small board game pieces/computer case screws.
I've used them for medicines I was supposed to take during the day and needed to carry in a pocket. The plastic holders take up too much space.

[Andrew Mayer]

People find useful uses for useful things.

Criminalizing them is stupid.

[magnet]

I use them to store my half-inch plastic baggies.

[Houngan]

The aqueducts?


And it's safe to walk the streets at night. But what else?

H.

[AndrewM]

This came up in DC, too. There were some convenience stores selling them at a price that really only made sense if you were going to use them to sell drugs, like a buck each or something.

[wildpokerman]

I'm sure the drug dealers are going to be grateful now because they'll realize the savings and convenience available through online bulk ordering.

http://www.customzip.com/polypro/zip-lock_plain.html

[MonkeyPunky]

I'm sure the drug dealers are going to be grateful now because they'll realize the savings and convenience available through online bulk ordering.

http://www.customzip.com/polypro/zip-lock_plain.html


Everybody knows that's a front by the FBI to catch drug dealers.

[Anti-Bunny]

The government's war against freshness RAGES ON! (http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20090320_DRUG_RAIDS_GONE_BAD.html?page=1&c=y)
ON A SWELTERING July afternoon in 2007, Officer Jeffrey Cujdik and his narcotics squad members raided an Olney tobacco shop.

Then, with guns drawn, they did something bizarre: They smashed two surveillance cameras with a metal rod, said store owners David and Eunice Nam.

The five plainclothes officers yanked camera wires from the ceiling. They forced the slight, frail Korean couple to the vinyl floor and cuffed them with plastic wrist ties.

“I so scared,” said Eunice Nam, 56. “We were on floor. Handcuffs on me. I so, so scared, I wet my pants.”

The officers rifled through drawers, dumped cigarette cartons on the floor and took cash from the registers. Then they hauled the Nams to jail.

The Nams were arrested for selling tiny ziplock bags that police consider drug paraphernalia, but which the couple described as tobacco pouches.

When they later unlocked their store, the Nams allege, they discovered that a case of lighter fluid and handfuls of Zippo lighters were missing. The police said they seized $2,573 in the raid. The Nams say they actually had between $3,800 and $4,000 in the store.

The Nams’ story is strikingly similar to those told by other mom-and-pop store owners, from Dominicans in Hunting Park to Jordanians in South Philadelphia.

[Chris Nahr]

I'm sure any number of right-thinking citizens will arrive shortly to tell us how this is totally reasonable and totally not fascist.

[quatoria]

Let's hope some other store owners take a lesson from this and buy one or two tiny spy-cams that record to a separate source, so they can get footage of these scumbags robbing and vandalizing their stores, if that's what's actually happening.

[wildpokerman]

Will the extra 2 cents a bag that the dealers have to spend on larger bags put them out of business?

[Robert Sharp]

Are you sure this isn't just a joke? I mean this can't be serious. This is the conclusion to some horrible slippery slope, the kind of thing that you use to make fun of libertarians, not to be made fun of BY libertarians. I can't even click on the original article. Is the link wrong, or did they get rid of the story because it was so silly?

[Chris Nahr]

The Philadelphia Daily News article shows up fine for me, and doesn't look like a joke at all. They do speculate that this is one group of rogue cops that have set up their nice little robber gang.

[RyanMichael]

Just to play devil's advocate (since I hate think this kind of stuff is actually happening): If this was rogue officers, why would they log any evidence at all? Why not just stage robberies and make it look like people impersonating police personnel?

[John Many Jars]

I know I've read about other places banning these, going years and years back. Can't remember where.

[Funkula]

Just to play devil's advocate (since I hate think this kind of stuff is actually happening): If this was rogue officers, why would they log any evidence at all? Why not just stage robberies and make it look like people impersonating police personnel?

Because by skimming off the top while still sort of doing their job, they can think of themselves as good cops who just take a little extra compensation. If they turn into straight-up robbers they have to reevaluate themselves.

[RyanMichael]

Because by skimming off the top while still sort of doing their job, they can think of themselves as good cops who just take a little extra compensation. If they turn into straight-up robbers they have to reevaluate themselves.

Yeah, but you think by logging something into evidence, they stand the chance of actually being busted.

[Lunch of Kong]

Yeah, but you think by logging something into evidence, they stand the chance of actually being busted.

Haven't you ever watched The Shield?

[Anti-Bunny]

Are you sure this isn't just a joke? I mean this can't be serious. This is the conclusion to some horrible slippery slope, the kind of thing that you use to make fun of libertarians, not to be made fun of BY libertarians. I can't even click on the original article. Is the link wrong, or did they get rid of the story because it was so silly?

Nope, not a joke. Not sure why the Chicago pulled it.. But it's been quoted on a billion blogs (http://www.theagitator.com/2008/03/05/they-put-their-weed-in-it/), since then and I can assure you it was a legit article a year ago when I made the op.

[Anti-Bunny]

Some interesting news on the War on Freshness:

Palma approved a search-warrant application for Jose Duran’s West Oak Lane grocery store, based on Richard Cujdik’s assertion that he watched a confidential informant - CI #142 - enter the store to buy ziplock bags three times.

The validity of that search warrant is now in question.

For the last buy, Richard Cujdik wrote that he “observed” CI #142 enter Duran’s store at about 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 11, 2007. Yet the Daily News watched the time-stamped Sept. 11 surveillance footage of the store between 4 and 5 p.m., and no one asked for or bought a ziplock bag.

Sgt. Joseph Bologna supervised the ensuing raid, part of which was captured on video. The Daily News obtained the video and posted it on its Web site, philly.com.

The video shows Bologna directing officers to “disconnect” camera wires. They do so with pliers and a bread knife. Bologna makes no effort to stop Richard Cujdik when the officer searches Duran’s van, allegedly without a warrant.

Duran alleges that officers seized nearly $10,000 in the raid but documented taking only $785.

http://www.theagitator.com/2009/05/01/update-on-bodega-raids-by-rogue-philly-narcotics-unit/

[EvilIdler]

Will boardgames be seized on entering the borders of Americaland? They tend to contain ziplock bags for the pieces here.

[BigSlowTarget]

Some interesting news on the War on Freshness:



http://www.theagitator.com/2009/05/01/update-on-bodega-raids-by-rogue-philly-narcotics-unit/


What the fuck? What the flying fish fuck shit? Jesus Christ am I glad I quit the department when I did. These cockups have lost their fucking minds.

[Brendan]

Raiding shops for selling ziplock bags? Has the world finally gone insane?

[EvilIdler]

When was it ever sane?

[Brendan]

When was it ever sane?

About the time selling plastic baggies became illegal.

[Anti-Bunny]

Looks like the War on Freshness has taken a new turn! (http://www.wftv.com/irresistible/20435114/detail.html)

A man is suing the Kissimmee Police Department for an arrest over mints. When officers pulled Donald May over for an expired tag, they thought the mints he was chewing were crack and arrested him.

May told Eyewitness News they wouldn’t let him out of jail for three months until tests proved the so-called drugs were candy…

May was pulled over for an expired tag on his car. When the officer walked up to him, he noticed something white in May’s mouth. May said it was breath mints, but the officer thought it was crack cocaine.

“He took them out of my mouth and put them in a baggy and locked me up [for] possession of cocaine and tampering with evidence,” May explained.The officer claimed he field-tested the evidence and it tested positive for drugs.

The officer said he saw May buying drugs while he was stopped at an intersection. He also stated in his report May waived his Miranda rights and voluntarily admitted to buying drugs.

May said that never happened.”My client never admitted he purchased crack cocaine. Why would he say that?” attorney Adam Sudbury said.

May was thrown in jail and was unable to bond out for three months. He didn’t get out until he received a letter from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney’s Office that test results showed no drugs were found.

“While I was sitting in jail I lost my apartment. I lost everything,” he said.

[EvilIdler]

Aren't you lot going to riot soon? The pigs are getting a bit too abusive lately.

[Erlend Grefsrud]

Cops don't take away freedom, socialized healthcare does.