My Experience with Prisoners taking K2 (+ Why Everyone Should be a Snitch)
Before reading this, I recommend reading my previous blog post which explains what K2 is and how it has been killing Prisoners.
Now throughout the past 4 years of my time in Prison, every few months I’d stumble upon 1 or 2 people smoking K2. But it’s only about 4 months ago that I noticed many Inmates smoking it frequently.
Most of the time, Prisoners smoke the K2 in their cell, then walk out into the dayroom, bloodshot eyes, slurred smile, high as a kite, lumbering around like zombies. Some are chuckling to themselves, some are gazing intently at the cops in their Wards, some are wrapping their legs around a pole, it’s truly a pitiful sight.
I have reported to the police whenever I’ve seen someone overdose. The first person I told on, he was lying back on the ground, grinning, barely conscious. Then suddenly, a shot of vomit whizzed up in to the air and back down into his mouth. I was mildly concerned that he might trigger some permanent brain damage or choke on his own vomit and die, so i ran to the police. A bunch of police and medics arrived, put him on a stretcher, and sent him away. Inmates looked at the lifeless body being brought away, while probably another equal number of Prisoners looked at me with absolute disgust.
Now if you don’t know, reporting to the police something that Prisoners wanted to keep secret is known as “snitching”. If Prisoners fight, or take drugs, or steal, you’re told to keep quiet, because if the people involved in the crime are caught, they will be punished with segregation. (Segregation is basically, being placed in another cell with a lot more restrictions: No TV, no dayroom, no phone time, no store. You’re basically stuck in a cell with nothing to do, 23 hours a day.) Prisoners would rather the crime be kept secret, so no one gets punished. And especially in max Prisons, if inmates find out you snitched, you might get beaten up or even killed.
But of course, being me, I don’t give a fuck. These gangsters can take this anti-snitching rule so far, that they can have a friend who they’ve seen murder someone, and yet they never want to report it to a police, allowing a known murderer to walk free and kill other people. So in terms of moral advice, I’m not sure these Prisoners are credible.
I on the other hand am perfectly willing to risk my life to help another person. If someone is overdosed on drugs, splayed on the floor vomiting on himself, most Prisoners would just stand there and not want to get involved and not help him, but I will.
And surprisingly, after I snitched, no one tried to beat me up or even threatened to attack me. Many Prisoners did voice their displeasure and tried to convince me to stop snitching. But eventually they gave up. I mean, kind of hard to justify not saving a person’s life when you easily can. However, the second time I snitched, the results were far more disheartening ...
A month or so after that Prisoner overdosed, I saw another person who OD-ed in the dayroom. He wasn’t laying on the ground or vomiting, he was sitting upright on a stool, but he seemed like he was having a seizure. With a fixed, vacant expression, he alternated between fidgeting uncontrollably and staring into space. There were about 10 people around him, some nudging him, some asking if he was alright, and all the time he wasn’t responsive. He stayed that way for about 3 minutes, and I became frightened. So I reported him to the police.
Yet, when about 3 policemen came over to check out that Prisoner, they just went towards him, said a few words, and then walked away ... What the fuck?!
As I wrote in my previous post on how to solve the K2 problem, just have a rule where the police can punish inmates as long as they display symptoms of taking K2, and much of the problem is solved. Prisoners would be more willing to snitch if they know the police would actually do something, so make sure they do. If I am going to continue being exposed to this deadly drug, and my health is going to continue being threatened, I’ll be sure to do my best to spoil the fun.
Previous Post on K2: How the Drug K2 is Killing American Prisoners, and how we can fix this