YOUR COMMENTS

Publish the name of the kid's lawyer, so the rest of NH can cross him/her from the help list.His lawyer should be brought up on charges of negligence .
- Jack ,Alton Bay, Alton Bay

Who was the judge?
- Kathy, Raymond

Mort G.

Just because God put it on this earth doesn't mean is good for us to use...there are a lot of things of this earth that harm us and drugs are one of them. Some may think they don't cause physical harm to others or mentally, but they do and they are often abused.

Damn hippies.
- Ellen, Manchester

Some of you are missing the point..he isn't charged with selling dyed vegetables...he's charged with attempting to sell a drug claiming it is a drug. Just because they ended up being fake doesn't mean he wasn't doing anything wrong. What if he had sold to a real buyer and when the drugs were found fake, was stalked down and hurt...then would anyone get the point? It seems more like fraud to me but even so, it was a dumb thing to do.

And not for nothing...but anyone claiming that all cops are going to find a bag or oregano in your car and claim your trying to sell it...A. why on earth would you ever have a random bag of oregano in your car and B. anyone who attempts to sell a strong smelling herb like Oregano as a drug is a complete moron.

Just sayin.
- Jon, Derry

it's crazy that this individual received real prision time for selling something that is not even real drugs! Rediculous that this punishment is so severe where they let molesters and rapists and violent offenders walk around to make room for idiotic immature 18 year olds who sold shittake mushrooms and now have to do 1 - 3 years in PRISON? Crazy! And while opium and coca leaves come from teh earth they have to to be manually refined, therefore maknig them designer drugs. Mushrooms and marijuana come from the earth and don't require any sort of chemical refining process to bring out their chemical effects
- josh, manchester

Wow,

Bad job by the defense lawyer. You think for such a mundane crime that the prosecutor would have just dropped it to a misdemeanor and gave him some probation. Now the kid's life is fairly ruined over this...
- Mike, Manchester, NH

I think, given that these were not real drugs, that the sentence seems very severe, particularly in one so young. However, I do not know all the particulars and if there was a prior record of some sort.
- LHemy, Plaistow NH

John B. in Manchester is right. Cops can, and do, make up whatever they please.

Want proof? ... check out this kid who was smart to record his encounter with one such fine officer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_wjrnUn_nY
- David, Bedford

The "What if" scenario has never held water. If people take drugs then hold them accountable for their actions while under the "influence" just as we currently do with alcohol.

Donald in Manchester, by your argument alcohol should be banned also because of what someone might do while drinking.

My point in bringing up abortion is entirely related. People are so fervent to protect the right of a woman to do what she wants with her own body, even when it means taking a baby's life, yet somehow the same woman cannot be allowed the choice of using drugs. It called a dichotomy of reason.
- David, Bedford

Mort G... Coca leaves grow from the Earth. Opium grows from the Earth. Your arguement would apply to those as well? Cocaine and Heroin are horrible drugs. Marijuana is often laced with horrible things. Legalizing a controlled substance just because it grows from the ground is a dumb idea. Psilocybin mushrooms can cause bad side effects, or death. They grow in the ground. Legalize those too? Come on...
- Fred, Milford

Locking up people who sell fake drugs helps the real drug dealers maintain quality control standards and a genuine product on the street.

What's up with Kingston? They lately seem to be in the news for heavy handed law enforcement for petty crimes.
- Chris, Merrimack

I just had tendrloin and shiiitake for dinner......... not bad.
- bob, auburn

I remember a time when my daughter was 6 and came home from her friends house with a baggie full of cat nip. I did ask her what it was as soon as I saw it, I was concerned.The cats were very happy. There were no arrests.

Mort G, I do agree!
- k, hillsboro

People seem pretty confused, and rightly so. The sentence is obscene, the defense non-existent. The fact is, some pack of quasi-professional cops got all wound up over a drug buy, and so they have to push it to the limit to quell their embarrassment.

Maybe the COPS ought to be taking money from those who want real drugs, giving them fakes and calling it a day. Sounds more productive than sending some kid to crime training school for three years at our expense.
- Ralph, Medford

I think anybody going to jail for the sale, or posession of something that grows on the earth is BS. Marijuana and mushrooms grow naturally on the earth. They are plants. God put everything on the earth for us to use. Why is it a crime when we do so?
- Mort G, Manchester

Kingston Cops do not have much to do with there time. Driving 45 in a 40 will get you pulled over.

This will get challenged and eventually when overturned there will be a civil suit against the state which will be paid for by us.

Glad the printed such a detailed story of the crime im sure everyone knows who the rat is.
- jennie Talia, Brentwood NH

An NFL star kills a man while DWI and gets 30 days suspended. A knucklehead 18 year old sells a bag of shitake mushrooms and gets 1 to 3 years in prison. Can anyone out there justify this for me. I am quite confused???
- rick, raymond nh

I can't believe that they will lock this genius up for 1 to 3 years. I am with the community service and time served punishment, oh yeah and staying away from vegetables. To me, if you are stupid enough to buy fake mushrooms or fake drugs, that is your problem. I say let street justice happen.

Shiitake Mushrooms -- $6
Blue Food Dye---$4
Selling $10 worth of merchandise for $900 and going to jail for it, priceless!
- Gary, Berlin

Wow...it's now illegal to sell dyed vegatables in NH. I didn't know shittake mushrooms were illegal? Good thing he wasn't selling narcotics...he probably would have gotten a 1 month suspended sentence and went on probation for a week. This is serious...lol.
- tracy, Manchester

Granted I don't know this 18 year old's past record but jail? Why not have him cleaning up a lot of litter on the highways for free and save the state some money rather than have him costing the state money in jail.
- Frank, Dover

what exactly was he charged with?
- Courtney, Manchester

The law is clear - if you represent something as a drug then you will be charged for it.

And don't think for a minute that if you put oregano in a baggie and put it in your car and get pulled over and a cop finds it they will not try and make it out like you were going to sell it as marijuana.

I have known people to whom this has happened.
- John B, Manchester

This is just stupid. Do you really think he will be a better citizen after spending time with real criminals? People, we have real problems and bad people out there. We need to focus on what the real problem is. This was not right, but could have been handled without serving time. JUST STUPID.
- Gary, NH

What a great use of our tax dollars. How much will it cost the taxpayers to keep this menace locked up?
- Tom W, Candia

It is illegal to sell a controlled substance, or it's "analog." An analong is something that someone passes off to be the real thing. David in Bedford... This story had nothing to do with abortion so I'm not sure why you even wrote about it. Maybe you're trying to pass off your own political agenda. Whatever. The reason why people can't "do what ever they want to their bodies" and get high is because of the things that the drug game lead up to, ie robbing, raping, criminal mischief, and killing other people.
- Fred, Milford

This guy should have challenged the charges. Pleading guilty to charges of selling a substance 'reported' to be a controlled drug and conspiracy to commit the sale of a drug sounds pretty hokey to me. Plain and simple fraud is more like it.
- Art, Portsmouth

David, if people were able to take drugs and control themselves your idea would be perfect. However, people take drugs and then break into homes, rob to support their habits, and even kill when the drug "trip" goes south. Yeah, the same can happen when you are drunk, but some drugs cause people to become stronger than what they would be usually, and then good luck getting them under control. Drugs are illegal and it should remain that way.
- Donald, manchester, NH

I am against the drug war but fraud is fraud. It does seem like this is an overreaction.
- Cathleen, Center Barnstead

So let me understand this ... So in New Hampshire a woman has the right to terminate her own pregnancy (i.e. kill her unborn child) but people can be sent to prison for eating certain mushrooms?

This is beyond stupid. Let people do what they want to their own bodies. If they are stupid enough to take drugs and get high then by all means ... let them.

Same goes for alcohol. You can be 18 years old and fight/die for your country but you are not intelligent or responsible enough to drink alcohol.

What ever happened to "Live free or die"?
- David, Bedford

So he is going to spend time in jail for selling fake drugs? Would authorities prefer it be real drugs?

This is a shot across the bow to all the vendors that sell oregano, flour, and ziplock bags.

I hope I never get pulled over coming home from the grocery store. I don't want to get charged with trafficking a substance that could be considered a fake drug.
- Tom, Henniker

So it is against the law to sell, not real illegal narcotics, to others? Would the sentence be the same if they were real drugs.
So he sold overpriced, pretty mushrooms to cops. How many times did the regular consumer by an overpriced item that promised so much and gave so little in return?
Can we also start arresting the politicians who promise that they are the answer, or cure to all our problems?
- k, hillsboro