A mother and her son didn't get to celebrate Thanksgiving because of 17 year old Travis Ault. He brutally murdered both. Incredibly Spokane Police Chief Roger Bragdon found the lack of "motive" disconcerting, what's more the viciousness of the crime.
The fact that two teen age boys had been drinking brandy and smoking marijuana laced with PCP certainly was the REASON, if not the motive! Many years ago when we lived in southern California PCP, or Angel Dust as it was popularly known, was the hot street drug of the day. Knowing youngsters in our neighborhood had experience with it gave us all some very anxious moments.
I dug a bit to refresh my memory. This is how Psychology Today describes it in part: "PCP effects are unpredictable. Typically, they are felt within minutes of ingestion and last for several hours. Some users report feeling the drug's effects for days. One drug-taking episode may produce feelings of detachment from reality, including distortions of space, time, and body image; another may produce hallucinations, panic, and fear. Some users report feelings of invulnerability and exaggerated strength. PCP users may become severely disoriented, violent, or suicidal".
Yep. Pretty much as I remembered it. No "motive" required! What concerns me is where is it coming from now? And what strength are the kids sprinkling on their pot? That the police haven't seen anything like this recently shouldn't blind them to what a horror this drug has been in the past.
Yes, we have drug problems in many of our communities and they draw a tremendous amount of time and effort to combat. But please, if this oldie but goodie is re-emerging we've got problems looming I don't want to think about, what's more remember!
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