[Edited May 05, 2013, 12:45 PM]
"Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness..." just got a lot more expensive.
The United States of America is broke, and your personal safety has a cost these days. Before you set out hiking you should consider things.
Are you a felon escaping justice? You know, murderer, rapist, kidnapper, thief ? Are you responsible for a massive search involving law enforcement that may cost tax-payers hundreds of thousands of dollars? In general, you don't need to worry. When caught you will be locked up at tax-payer expense and the search for you will also be charged to tax-payers, not to your account. Paying to get you off the streets, is par for the course... it's the way the system works. If you get lost in the badlands, in a vast forest, or on the arctic tundra, don't sweat it... you won't be charged for your apprehension/recovery. You won't be charged with the search and rescue costs.
But before getting lost consider this:
You're with friends at a beer blast, you wander off and get lost. Search and rescue is called and the cost to find you is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Chances are, you won't be charged... hey, you got drunk and got lost. It happens.
As a writer I admit I have faults... I have a tendency to write long, involved posts. I know that... am aware people tend to not have time to read long posts, so let me put it as bluntly as I am able.
Your spouse, significant other disappears, last known location - hiking. Before you dial 911, ask yourself the following question? Were they in possession of "drugs"?
Okay, you might laugh... what difference does it make, in fact, you may not know or even care about the answer to that question.
Or better yet, you are the one(s) who decide to go hiking... you bring your cellphone, some pot, some peyote or magic mushrooms along. Maybe you leave a little behind in your car - why, well, I'm not sure why, but let's say that you do. Maybe you roll the joint and a seed falls on the floor of your car.
Or let's say, you write a blog, or have a website devoted to "drug legalization". Or you're involved in any of a thousand topics deemed unconventional or questionable by today's post 9/11 standards. Is it any mystery why the terrorists that caused the thousands of deaths on Sept. 11, 2001 chose that date, 911? Stands for: Emergency/rescue! Doh... A Homer Simpson moment!
Since then, we now have the Patriot Act, an act initiated by President George W. Bush to counter terrorism. The Patriot Act does more than protect Americans from future acts of terrorism... it undermines/subjugates the 4TH Amendment to the US Constitution. It makes spying on American citizens legal without much of a warrant. It flies in the face of what our founding fathers explicitly were trying to protect America from... covert actions by a home government into the privacy of it's citizens.
Cut to the chase, or shall we say the 911 search and rescue:
The following story is about two hikers that got lost in a California forest. They dialed 911 from a cellphone. They reported they were lost. They asked for help. After 4 - 5 days and a multi-agency search they were found, barely alive. What was also found, left behind in their car were "drugs". Meth to be exact. But...the key-word here is, "drugs" were found.
Let me back-up and again focus on the facts... the key-word here is not murderer, rapist, bank-robber, serial killer, it's "drugs". I didn't say beer, or coffee, though they're drugs, but we're not talking buzzed or blindly drunk. It doesn't matter what drugs other than legal ones that you may have left behind, or if when you're found two weeks later they make you take a piss test and you test positive for some pot that you may have used at a party weeks earlier.
The fact is, your rescue won't be what you expect. It'll become a criminal investigation and unlike the aforementioned criminal element you'll likely be ordered to foot the bill.
Don't believe me?
Nicolas Cendoya, 19, and Kyndall Jack, 18 went hiking in a California forest awhile back. They got disoriented and got lost for several days, they almost died, all the while they were within about a mile or two from where their car was found. When one of them realized they were lost they called 911 and asked for help. Before the cellphone battery expired law enforcement got a "fix" on their approximate location. Law enforcement found their car. After several days of searching the two hikers were found, nearly dead.
One of the hikers, Kyndall jack reported having hallucinations that she was being attacked by wild animals. She reports she became disoriented. Since the battery for the cell-phone expired, searchers only had an approximate location for the two lost hikers. It took them several days based on what they knew to locate each of them. They survived. The cost of the search and rescue totals approximately $160,000.
When law enforcement searched their car in an effort to determine their plans/location, it allegedly contained a small quantity of methamphetamine.
It is up to a judge now to determine the facts in this case, but suffice it to say the couple has been billed $160,000 for the rescue, as "drugs" were allegedly involved. Law enforcement has determined the couple wasn't hiking, they were out in that forest getting "high". If alcohol were involved they would not be facing the charges they are facing... they could have had a case of whiskey, a keg of beer, which would have been okay... but they had what could have been a marijuana seed in their car and that means they were drug addicts out in that forest getting "high".
Rule of thumb people... alcohol, tobacco are not drugs... leave all you want behind in your car if you go hiking. Getting drunk is far different than getting high... and to ward off the wild animals, you might consider bringing some vitamin B-12.
Honestly... people can do dumb things... like hike on a nice Winter day without any survival gear... and get lost, and who's going to pay to find you when a blizzard happens? I mean stupid is stupid!
But to blame their loss and search and rescue on drug use? Okay, so meth isn't one of my preferred drugs... but what if you had a joint and got lost? My God, you can't carry a compass and a map??? You can't plan ahead and be safe???
I've gotten lost a few times hiking, even without drugs... I have to admit, a time or two I had a little pot, but I always carry a map and a compass, though seriously... to charge these citizens $160,000 simply because meth was found in their car and assume that's the reason the got lost? So now, authorities don't care if or why they got lost, they care that "drugs" were found, which turns this into a drug war investigation. The drugs were left in the car they were driving, like they didn't bring them with? Why would they go hiking to do drugs, only to leave them behind in their car? Seems to me even if the intention was to hike to use drugs they would have brought them along, not left them in their car. Like the drugs couldn't have been planted without their knowledge? I don't know, but seems like a convenient way to pass the buck, that's all I'm saying.
We've lost our humanity. This is where the War on Drugs has brought us. These people were stupid, I grant you that possibility. But the alternative is... if lost and "drugs" are involved, do all of us a favor, don't call 911 - just die? Has society sunk deep enough into a dark hole that we don't care about you anymore because of that? If you're a murderer, a rapist, a thief, a serial killer then they care, and the taxpayer foots the bill to find them... but if drugs are involved, better that they simply die and spare us the cost of finding them. That's what it comes to. If so much as a seed of cannabis is found, you pay.
So much for the shaman of old who had a bit too much peyote... just let him or her die. Forget the message they may return with to enlighten us all.
Opens up a can of worms in my opinion as in this case the hikers called 911, but what if a loved one or friend had?
The story is here: HIKERS LOST IN CALIFORNIA FOREST.
Stop the Hurt! End the War!
"Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness..." just got a lot more expensive.
The United States of America is broke, and your personal safety has a cost these days. Before you set out hiking you should consider things.
Are you a felon escaping justice? You know, murderer, rapist, kidnapper, thief ? Are you responsible for a massive search involving law enforcement that may cost tax-payers hundreds of thousands of dollars? In general, you don't need to worry. When caught you will be locked up at tax-payer expense and the search for you will also be charged to tax-payers, not to your account. Paying to get you off the streets, is par for the course... it's the way the system works. If you get lost in the badlands, in a vast forest, or on the arctic tundra, don't sweat it... you won't be charged for your apprehension/recovery. You won't be charged with the search and rescue costs.
But before getting lost consider this:
You're with friends at a beer blast, you wander off and get lost. Search and rescue is called and the cost to find you is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Chances are, you won't be charged... hey, you got drunk and got lost. It happens.
As a writer I admit I have faults... I have a tendency to write long, involved posts. I know that... am aware people tend to not have time to read long posts, so let me put it as bluntly as I am able.
Your spouse, significant other disappears, last known location - hiking. Before you dial 911, ask yourself the following question? Were they in possession of "drugs"?
Okay, you might laugh... what difference does it make, in fact, you may not know or even care about the answer to that question.
Or better yet, you are the one(s) who decide to go hiking... you bring your cellphone, some pot, some peyote or magic mushrooms along. Maybe you leave a little behind in your car - why, well, I'm not sure why, but let's say that you do. Maybe you roll the joint and a seed falls on the floor of your car.
Or let's say, you write a blog, or have a website devoted to "drug legalization". Or you're involved in any of a thousand topics deemed unconventional or questionable by today's post 9/11 standards. Is it any mystery why the terrorists that caused the thousands of deaths on Sept. 11, 2001 chose that date, 911? Stands for: Emergency/rescue! Doh... A Homer Simpson moment!
Since then, we now have the Patriot Act, an act initiated by President George W. Bush to counter terrorism. The Patriot Act does more than protect Americans from future acts of terrorism... it undermines/subjugates the 4TH Amendment to the US Constitution. It makes spying on American citizens legal without much of a warrant. It flies in the face of what our founding fathers explicitly were trying to protect America from... covert actions by a home government into the privacy of it's citizens.
Cut to the chase, or shall we say the 911 search and rescue:
The following story is about two hikers that got lost in a California forest. They dialed 911 from a cellphone. They reported they were lost. They asked for help. After 4 - 5 days and a multi-agency search they were found, barely alive. What was also found, left behind in their car were "drugs". Meth to be exact. But...the key-word here is, "drugs" were found.
Let me back-up and again focus on the facts... the key-word here is not murderer, rapist, bank-robber, serial killer, it's "drugs". I didn't say beer, or coffee, though they're drugs, but we're not talking buzzed or blindly drunk. It doesn't matter what drugs other than legal ones that you may have left behind, or if when you're found two weeks later they make you take a piss test and you test positive for some pot that you may have used at a party weeks earlier.
The fact is, your rescue won't be what you expect. It'll become a criminal investigation and unlike the aforementioned criminal element you'll likely be ordered to foot the bill.
Don't believe me?
Nicolas Cendoya, 19, and Kyndall Jack, 18 went hiking in a California forest awhile back. They got disoriented and got lost for several days, they almost died, all the while they were within about a mile or two from where their car was found. When one of them realized they were lost they called 911 and asked for help. Before the cellphone battery expired law enforcement got a "fix" on their approximate location. Law enforcement found their car. After several days of searching the two hikers were found, nearly dead.
One of the hikers, Kyndall jack reported having hallucinations that she was being attacked by wild animals. She reports she became disoriented. Since the battery for the cell-phone expired, searchers only had an approximate location for the two lost hikers. It took them several days based on what they knew to locate each of them. They survived. The cost of the search and rescue totals approximately $160,000.
When law enforcement searched their car in an effort to determine their plans/location, it allegedly contained a small quantity of methamphetamine.
It is up to a judge now to determine the facts in this case, but suffice it to say the couple has been billed $160,000 for the rescue, as "drugs" were allegedly involved. Law enforcement has determined the couple wasn't hiking, they were out in that forest getting "high". If alcohol were involved they would not be facing the charges they are facing... they could have had a case of whiskey, a keg of beer, which would have been okay... but they had what could have been a marijuana seed in their car and that means they were drug addicts out in that forest getting "high".
Rule of thumb people... alcohol, tobacco are not drugs... leave all you want behind in your car if you go hiking. Getting drunk is far different than getting high... and to ward off the wild animals, you might consider bringing some vitamin B-12.
Honestly... people can do dumb things... like hike on a nice Winter day without any survival gear... and get lost, and who's going to pay to find you when a blizzard happens? I mean stupid is stupid!
But to blame their loss and search and rescue on drug use? Okay, so meth isn't one of my preferred drugs... but what if you had a joint and got lost? My God, you can't carry a compass and a map??? You can't plan ahead and be safe???
I've gotten lost a few times hiking, even without drugs... I have to admit, a time or two I had a little pot, but I always carry a map and a compass, though seriously... to charge these citizens $160,000 simply because meth was found in their car and assume that's the reason the got lost? So now, authorities don't care if or why they got lost, they care that "drugs" were found, which turns this into a drug war investigation. The drugs were left in the car they were driving, like they didn't bring them with? Why would they go hiking to do drugs, only to leave them behind in their car? Seems to me even if the intention was to hike to use drugs they would have brought them along, not left them in their car. Like the drugs couldn't have been planted without their knowledge? I don't know, but seems like a convenient way to pass the buck, that's all I'm saying.
We've lost our humanity. This is where the War on Drugs has brought us. These people were stupid, I grant you that possibility. But the alternative is... if lost and "drugs" are involved, do all of us a favor, don't call 911 - just die? Has society sunk deep enough into a dark hole that we don't care about you anymore because of that? If you're a murderer, a rapist, a thief, a serial killer then they care, and the taxpayer foots the bill to find them... but if drugs are involved, better that they simply die and spare us the cost of finding them. That's what it comes to. If so much as a seed of cannabis is found, you pay.
So much for the shaman of old who had a bit too much peyote... just let him or her die. Forget the message they may return with to enlighten us all.
Opens up a can of worms in my opinion as in this case the hikers called 911, but what if a loved one or friend had?
The story is here: HIKERS LOST IN CALIFORNIA FOREST.
Stop the Hurt! End the War!
Another good one Bobkat! I knew that we taxpayers foot the bill for rescue operations, but I didn't know about the other situations. Very informative.
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