When I was younger I remember a kid who had a habit of going on a shoplifting spree. He would often sneak candy bars or packs of gum from the store without getting caught. I always wondered how he managed to do it without fear of being busted! It makes me think, did he grow up to be, like this Florida man?
According to FOX35, there's this guy named Jesse Wills, from Port Orange. He found himself in quite a situation with things tucked away inside his pockets if you catch my drift. Allegedly he thought it was an idea to go on a little shoplifting spree and nabbing goods worth approximately $500! But that's not all our Florida man had up his sleeve.
Shoplifting Spree:
Besides the Shoplifting spree he also allegedly had an assortment of drugs on him! We're talking marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine, crack cocaine, psychedelic mushrooms, fentanyl, amphetamines and to top it off, some alprazolam. Dang! That's a whole pharmacy in there!
So Jesse was just cruising along feeling pretty pleased, with his personalized party kit when suddenly... Whoop whoop! That unmistakable sound of law enforcement approaching! They attempted to apprehend him. But Jesse wasn't having any of it. He took off like his life depended on it. Sadly his escape plan didn't pan out as expected.
After a game of cat and mouse law enforcement finally caught up with him. They handcuffed him. Escorted him to jail. Surprisingly they didn't go easy on the bail either setting it at a $30,500. Wow. That's a lot of dough. It would of been cheaper to just pay for your little shoplifting spree huh?
So yeah, not the wisest choice. Especially when you're dumb enough to run from the cops with drugs, in your possession. At least Jesse's gonna have a wild story to tell his cellmates, right?
Florida Fish Are On Drugs
In a new study by the Florida International University, 94% of the fish off the Florida coast tested positive for drugs. In the study, researchers sampled 113 Florida redfish, looking for 94 commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals. And they found them. On average, researchers detected 2.1 pharmaceuticals per redfish and only seven of those redfish tested clean. Of the areas tested, Tampa Bay had one of the highest concentrations. Looking to our Southwest Florida waters, Charlotte Harbor had medium concentrations. The Fort Myers area was not tested. So why are the fish on drugs? It's the wastewater.
According to FIU, "Pharmaceutical contaminants originate most often from human wastewater and are not sufficiently removed by conventional water treatment. They remain active at low doses and can be released constantly." The drugs affect the lives of the fish, and "On average, 25.7 percent of the fish exceeded a level of pharmaceuticals considered safe, which equates to one-third of the therapeutic levels in humans." So it's not just harmful to the fish, the amount of drugs in the fish really questions the safety of eating them.
The most common drug found in the redfish was Flecainide, which can treat and prevent serious irregular heartbeats. Heart medicine. That makes sense since a LOT of people here in Florida take that drug. The most common side effect of that drug is constipation. Second most? Tramadol. That's right, the opioid analgesic pain killer. More than half of the redfish (52%) had Tramadol in them. "Ayy bro lemme get two pounds of that OxyFish...." is not just a joke. And Tramadol isn't just a painkiller. It may decrease fertility in men and women.
What can we do about the drug problem in Florida Fish?
The study goes on to say “The results of this study indicate that there are additional opportunities for improvement by retrofitting existing wastewater treatment plants with innovative technologies, like ozone treatment, to remove pharmaceuticals and requiring such technology on new wastewater facilities.” So the trend can be reversed. But it's going to take more research, and money. Last year, the school conducted a study on bonefish in Biscayne Bay and the Florida Keys with similar results.
