A Canadian college student majoring in chemistry built himself a home lab – and discovered that trying to do science in your own home quickly leads to accusations of drug-making and terrorism.
Lewis Casey, an 18-year-old in Saskatchewan, had built a small chemistry lab in his family’s garage near the university where he studies. Then two weeks ago, police arrived at his home with a search warrant and based on a quick survey of his lab determined that it was a meth lab. They pulled Casey out of the shower to interrogate him, and then arrested him.
A few days later, police admitted that Casey’s chemistry lab wasn’t a meth lab – but they kept him in jail, claiming that he had some of the materials necessary to produce explosives. Friends and neighbors wrote dozens of letters to the court, testifying that Casey was innocent and merely a student who is really enthusiastic about chemistry.
On December 24, Casey was finally released into his parents’ custody, pending a trial to determine whether he was building what police called “improvised explosive devices.”
What friggin’ idiots!
Saskatchewan. No further comment needed.
Ignorant God fearing moose hunters still suspicious of book learning. Well, at least he was turned over to the authorities who have a wider appreciation of life after the initial shocktroops, much better than burning the kid and his family at the stake for heresy.
Progress.
1. Meth production – fail
2. Bomb maker – Will probably fail
3. Violation of H.O.A. – 20 years to life.
Got that bastard!
SASKATOON 911
MikeR, if he was blowing up anything it would be prairie dogs. I mean gophers. No, prairie dogs is correct, right? Actually, I was wrong, gophers is the right term.
Richardson Ground Squirrels?
The kid was just bored since there was nothing else to do.
#5–QB==WoW!!! I had EXACTLY the same conversation years back in the panhandle of Texas==up to where the guy calls “sarcasm.” They don’t do that around Midland. “Nothing to block the view” is EXACTLY what the local said. I fell off my chair.
bobbo,
Pysch! You owe me a beer. š
The opening line of the Tragically Hip song “Wheat Kings” refers to Saskatoon: “Sundown in the Paris of the Prairies.
Sounds like a Corner Gas plot.
5. Hilarious. It reminds me of some people visiting Michigan from a great plain state. When asked about the beautiful scenery in Michigan they replied,
“What scenery? You can’t see anything with all of these god damn trees blocking the view.”
Listen, as long as you are already in the jail, let’s dream up something to charge you with.
I like it. Simple, creative, low paperwork. I’m recommending it to the RNC as a platform plank to win back America.
You want to know why Canada is not great country for science?
Because ignorant people are running the country.
I used to like Cops. Now I hate them. All of them. So they realize the kid is a chemistry student, but they are going to have a trial anyway. Assholes.
“claiming that he had some of the materials necessary to produce explosives”
I’d hazard a guess that 2/3 of all households contain “some” of the materials to produce explosives.
Police are never wrong. They certainly aren’t capable of self policing. Everyone knows that. The judge and juries are there to rubber stamp the indictment.
Just to prove themselves right and totally justified, they will; find him guilty of something, then fine him some horrendous amount. Just so, they don’t set a legal precedent for a maybe real criminal to use as a defense.
Innocence is irrelevant in this AB (after bush) time we’ve entered into. It’s all the government giving it’s self a feeling of total control; since, we are no longer citizens; instead, we are inmates within the confines of a secure boarder.
Chemistry is dangerous. It shouldn’t be allowed.
I guess that’s why they don’t sell chemistry sets to kids any more.
Rationale update: Without chemistry, meth itself would be impossible.
Guilty until proven innocent.
40 years ago, I was in this guy’s shoes. Of course, no one came to arrest me. I did build IED’s and had a heck of a lot of innocent fun with them. Well, I did blow up a trashcan once, but it was my trashcan. I’m very lucky I did not kill or maim myself. I wonder if the “authorities” really realize how easy it is to build bombs and other lethal devices. I found the materials around the house. There has to be a better way to protect the public.
# 14 Cap’nKangaroo said, in part:
‘Iād hazard a guess that 2/3 of all households contain āsomeā of the materials to produce explosives.’
Oh, I think it’s quite a larger number than that; more like 99.98%.
Gee, all it took was an election to blow up a lot of Republican heads around here. I guess democracy might be dangerous for Republicans.
Hmm… still no girlfriend for SN
The problem with this incident is that the cop were really stupid.
Sorry for being disrespectful but that’s the bottom line, right?
Can’t an even average-stupid cop tell a hobby lab from a meth operation or a bomb-making facility?
One wonders how many government scientists were just as “enthusiastic about chemistry”, back when they were young? And went on to be rocket scientists, or military weapon scientists. Saskatchewan seems a pretty isolated place to not have to worry about drug trafficking or terrorist bombing. I’d doubt that either would make him very rich, up there. While they’re arresting kids for having the stuff to maybe build bombs. Why don’t they arrest all the hardware stores for supplying the same?
You know what’s going to happen. The Canadian cops and judge are all going to be commended by the butt stupid citizens who voted them into office. And see this as cracking down on the troubled youth. So Canada’s in the 1950s era of America, eh? It won’t be too long now before they have their own James Dean character screaming “Your Tearing Me Apart!!”. And then their youth protesting everything their establishment thinks is right.
Remember the OLD days?
When a chemistry set was REAL??
And you LEARNED to be an idiot or SMART about using them??
Remember REAL fireworks that WE got to set off, and blow a finger/hand off??
REMEMBER all the lessons we LEARNED or DIED trying to learn?
ON OUR OWN..
NOW you try to LEARN, and you get put in jail..
You try to be SMART, and end up in jail..
Teachers are being FIRED for Teaching.. They are SUPPOSED to teach WHAT THEY ARE TOLD.
We dont TEACh people to THINK or LEARN.
For SOME odd reason we took a C grade high school person, and C grade college Party person and made the PERSOn president.