Daniel Chong, UC-San Diego student, said he was forced to drink his own urine after he was left in a Drug Enforcement Administration holding cell for nearly five days. Chong was smoking marijuana at a friend's house celebrating 4/20, when the DEA raided the house. The DEA agents brought him to their offices for questioning, but then told him he could go home. He was not charged with anything. But before Chong could leave he was placed in a cell where he was left for days without any contact. During this time, he survived by drinking his own urine, and eventually he attempted suicide by breaking his own eyeglasses and cutting the words "Sorry Mom" into his arm.
A DEA employee took Chong to the hospital, where he spent three days in intensive care and his kidneys were close to failing. Mr. Chong is now suing the DEA for $20 million.
It's not like DEA does this sort of thing every day. But what happened to Daniel Chong is an inevitable consequence of a war on drugs that arrests and detains millions of people for drug law violations, most of them involving petty offenses.
Being incarcerated, even for just a few days, can be devastating. People guilty of nothing more than possessing a little marijuana are locked up with people who may be violent criminals. Some are abused, beaten and raped, and others deprived of essential medication or contact with their families. A few commit suicide. Many are otherwise traumatized by the experience of being tossed into jail even when their jailers don't forget about them. And even greater numbers suffer serious and sometimes permanent consequences from whatever conviction results, including loss of employment, housing and government assistance, loss of custody of one's children, and much more.
If a private citizen had done to Daniel Chong what the DEA did, that person would face abundant criminal charges and the likelihood of spending many years behind bars. But when the government does it, the victim is typically lucky to get an apology -- especially if he or she is poor or has darker skin. That's not right. Both DEA staff and the organization as a whole need to be held responsible.
One can only imagine what would have happened, and would be happening now, if the person abandoned by the DEA in a holding cell for five days had been a person, or child of a person, of wealth and power. That would put not just the DEA on trial but also the policies of mass arrest and incarceration that distinguish the United States from all other nations.
Ethan Nadelmann is the founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the leading organization in the United States promoting alternatives to the war on drugs.
Follow Ethan Nadelmann on Twitter: www.twitter.com/EthanNadelmann
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I'm stumped, though.
However, Mr. Chong's options were very limited. It can take only a few days to die of dehydration and urine was the only liquid available to him. This was not a matter of preference.
The drug war is ridiculous, extremely costly, rewards drug dealers, and creates innocent lost of life. It also is a classic example of the "nanny" state mentality of taking away liberties from individuals and not allowing people to make their own decisions whether good or bad in some other person's judgment. As long as they don't hurt others.
The case of a young man forced to drink urine, is just another example of how nonsensical the policies of the federal government have become.
My post was just adding a little levity to a story that is ridiculous but at the same time an abuse of this person's rights.
I'm amazed that in a public place over the course of five days, no one noticed this guy in passing. Just where is this holding cell located? In the dungeon? In an old privy in the back 40?
Name of the book is 'Shoulda Robbed a Bank.'
I saw it on Amazon.
Mr. Chong is lucky he went home in 5 days...it could have been a lot worse...I hope he wins his suit.
I suspect that the detention cell staff are employed by private contractors hired by the government. The private contractor is probably Halliburton by way of its Oubliettes R Us division.
Where was this place? In a basement? In an outbuilding? In all work places, there are very few places that aren't visited at least daily by janitorial staff.
Is the DEA bringing back dungeons and oubliettes?
What passes as a holding cell nowadays is designed specifically for the convenience and comfort of the cops working at the jail. I was placed in a holding cell that was about five by five feet square. The walls were covered in a very dense, soundproof material similar to vulcanized pickup truck bed liner. There a recessed low wattage light behind an airplane glass screen in the ceiling. The door was about eight inches thick with a tiny airplance glass window which was covered from outside with locked little door.
I was put in there without my glasses and after a few hours developed a raging headache...happens without my glasses due to poor internal pressure in my eyeballs. I soon discovered that the little closet was so tightly soundproofed that I could not get the attention of a desk officer sitting not more than ten feet on the other side of the door.
I pounded and pounded on that door til my hands were black and blue. Finally, I pulled my shirt over my head to black out the light and try to calm my raging migraine.
If the end of time had occurred outside that door, I would have never known.
Wouldn't you think the DEA would have TV monitors for security purposes? Something doesn't sound right. I suspect people changing shifts saw a nonwhite kicking a cell door and screaming and thought it was just another criminal, ignore him.
You give this a try - have somebody lock you in a room for five days with no food or water. When dehydration, lack of human contact, and starvation start to driving you completely bat**** crazy, stay completely sane. Let me know how that goes for you.
Drinking your own urine is nothing in the light of what happens to you when you are in a holding cell for 4 days.
He may get a chance to phone home. He may not. If nobody answers, too bad.
He may be missing from his friends, family, school or employer for many days.
He cannot see his doctor or dentist. If he does not have his glasses, watch or his false teeth, too bad. He will do without while locked up.
He won't ever get his medication. The jail may help arrange to get substitute medication within a week's time.
If there are pets or children at home, let us hope that someone will look out for them. He may get the hell beat out of him by others in the jail. He may get raped. No good books or periodicals to read, and probably no television or radio. It will cost a huge ransom to get out. This is how an arrest works all across america.
Something is off here. I suspect none of the DEA people, who of course changed shifts every eight hours, thought to say to themselves, Why is he making such a ruckus? Maybe I should take two minutes and see what's going on with him.