Amazing what one can find

Two weekends ago, Virginia and I were in Portland, Oregon visiting her brother and his family. We always enjoy visiting with him and his wife, not to mention the fun we have with their 6 kids. Portland was having unseasonable weather as there were two sunny days in a row. With the nice weather, two of their girls wanted to have a picnic with me in the park/highschool grounds across the street.

While walking through the grassy area on the school grounds, I walked over a small baggie that contained a yellow brown crystalline substance. I really didn't want to handle this thing, but I couldn't just leave it there either. I gave it to my brother-in-law to have it destroyed. He contacted the Portland police who sent over an officer to take possession of the drug. Our suspicion was that it was crystal meth and the police officer guessed the same. Though I know about this drug, I've never had the displeasure of seeing it first hand until now.

We used this instance to teach all the kids what this particular drug looked like and to not handle it. The officer also explained what the drug does and how it can wreak someones life. It seems that many of us know someone personally where this drug has damaged an otherwise good person. I can only hope that these kids learned a valuable lesson and never touch this stuff.

Later that day, the police officer confirmed what the drug was after testing it. There must be a really bummed drug dealer out there because the officer appraised the street value at about $600. She explained that this was a very pure form in large crystals and not the powdery stuff the users usually use. I'm glad this little bit is off the streets.

The scariest part here is that I found it on school grounds where some kids could have thought it was rock candy and eat it, or a dog could have consumed it. I don't know how lethal eating crystal meth is, but I don't want some child to find out the hard way. All's well that ends well.