IWPS Incident

[nebulaspark]

There were some "incense" (aka legal marijuana and an opiate pill) placed into the bags given out at IWPS this year.  As I understand it, this was not approved, and somebody came in to put them under the bags and was able to do so with the understanding that they were, in fact, incense.  When it came to the attention of the staff/volunteers that this was not the case, this action was stopped.  This was not before the bags had gone out to several poets, some of them being addicts.  Now, I understand that this was a legal substance, but so is alcohol, and out of consideration to our sober poet family, we would not be handing alcohol out in every bag.  Finding alcohol in a bag would have been a slap in the face, and it's legal status would have no bearing on the situation.  I realize this was an accident, so I am proposing this:

Make it a policy to ALWAYS LOOK AT whatever someone has brought to put in the bags (and subsequently approve), and if this had been done, this would not have happened.  Also, maybe we could check the bags before they are approved to be given to the poets? I realize that poets are responsible for their own actions, but if we all have each other's best interests at heart, I think taking this small step would prevent something like this from happening again.

[amcehn]

Thanks for this post. For several reasons actually. The EC met at iWPS this year to discuss this, though not all of us were present at the time of this meeting.

So, we are having this discussion right now in our forum and when we have a final decision on what policy changes we decide, we will post it. We can however, say that we are going to create a new policy that would include knowing what is going in the bags.

[AmyD]

Abbey, just want to add a thought that I haven't seen elsewhere, though you may already be considering it in private. When it comes to customs/TSA, perception is reality. Even items that are *technically* legal can get you detained in a big way at these types of checkpoints.

[nebulaspark]

Awesome, thank you! Also, let me make something perfectly clear.  I am not ungrateful for the wonderful weekend I had in IWPS, I think that the staff did the best job they could do and as a result of it, I had a great time.  I was just trying to voice a concern and I appreciate you handling it this way Abby :).

[jesster]

What would be amazing along with this policy change is a simple apology.

I had to stop someone from taking the pill. They wanted to see what would happen.

-Jesse

[amcehn]

Again, our EC is discussing this right now. We weren't all together or in our offices yesterday. And now that the time is correct on all zones, we're at work.

[simone]

I am a bit surprised to hear that we have to make this a policy at all. It seems like simple common sense that whatever goes into the bags needs to be approved by a pre-selected individual or committee that represents the tournament. (In our case at NPS 2011, the deadline to have bag stuffers approved was one week before the tournament itself; either the Development Director or myself looked at everything that went into the bags beforehand. This was not just to prevent illegal or inappropriate substances from getting into the bags, but also make sure that everything entered was appropriate to represent NPS.)

Everything the host city does reflects not just on the tournament, but also on PSi and poetry slam as a movement/art. If we have to make policy for everything that should be common sense [edited to add: and I see now that Scott has announced that we have done exactly that], then perhaps we should think about training our hosts better. I say this as someone who would have appreciated more policy and historical information as a host myself.

[Scott Woods]

What would be amazing along with this policy change is a simple apology.

I had to stop someone from taking the pill. They wanted to see what would happen.

-Jesse

And one has been posted this morning.
http://www.poetryslam.com/forum/index.php?topic=7114.msg73079#msg73079

[jesster]

What would be amazing along with this policy change is a simple apology.

I had to stop someone from taking the pill. They wanted to see what would happen.

-Jesse

And one has been posted this morning.
http://www.poetryslam.com/forum/index.php?topic=7114.msg73079#msg73079

And it is, indeed, amazing. Thank you, Scott.

-Jesse

[Omari]

i will say that sometimes a snafu cannot be predicted, I was just happy to see that it was rectified literally just a few minutes after it started.  we can't police everything, however I do agree that there should be a designate to check all bags, however, there was a designate and due to the nature of the product it could have been a call that could have gone either way if the designate is not well versed or experienced in the history and the realities of addicition and recovery.    Human error will awlays exist and I'm glad this was caught and no one suffered the consequences of a very overzealous customs agent.  Many of us never look in our bags until we get home.. Thanks for the post of apology.

[AVLPoet]

I was asked by a couple people to post an explanation of the events.   I thought this was a non-issue, and that it would not be heard of after the items were removed from the bags.   I did not want to add fuel to the fire by responding. . .  but we see how that worked for John Kerry. . .  so here it goes. . .

The items in question in the bag were crushed kratom leaf, and a 15x extract.   They were sent to Cleveland befire the event.   I got a mail stating that they were received, and giving the impression the gift would be included in the bag, prior to the event starting.

When I received my bag, it was conspiciously absent of any gifts, so I asked about it.    I was told by, I think Phoenix is her name, that her order to not include them was in jest, and I asked if I could help put them in.  I received permission to do so, and did.

Later that night, I was headed to last chance, and saw Ms.  Lipscomb walking with some friends,  headed there as well.   One of them was carrying the box of items - they had been removed.   I asked about it, she stated there were concerned people, and I took the box to the front of the hotel for them to secure during last chance.   That was the last time that the items were in the posession of anyone formally affiliated with PSI.   I took the product back on my way to my room, and intended to distro it to my friends, on my own time.

Nearly Everyone involved with PSI acted as professionally as possible in dealing with the issue, and they sure as heck do not need any more grief about this.   It was aparently included on a misunderstanding, and as soon as there was (unwarranted) concern, they had the items removed.   Nobody at day 2 of registration got one in a bas, and only a few persons on day 1 got one.

Regardless, it is a perfectly legal product that carried more than any necessary warnings on it.   

I am told that there was concern due to people in "recovery" receiving them.   To that I would say there was vodka included in the bags in Minneapolis, MN at NPS.   When I travelled with Midwest Slam League, we handed out bottles of UV vodka, as they were our sponsor.    Vodka is different in that it is A: a consumptive product B: responsible for  thousands of fatalities a year.

The product was provided with that in mind, because the thinking was, SURELY if vodka was allowed in the bags, the kratom incense would not be a big deal at all.

This all boils down to a misunderstanding about whether it was allowed in the bags or not in the first place, and was corrected by those involved with PSI as expeditiously as possible.   It should be a non-issue at this point.

I'm hoping this resolves the matter, and we can get on with thanking the finalists for the epic performances, and those in the host city who made them possible. . .

~AP

[Scott Woods]

For the record, there are stop-gap measures being installed to ensure what's in bags is what PSi and the Host City intends to be in bags but I can further comment that no matter what there will not be ANY consumables in future bags of any type.

[arollins]

Good job, Scott Woods.  You rock.

P. S.  Due to my research of this plant (thus far) it's not so drug like. . . it's sort of like the nicotine patch that smokers use, except for opiate users. . . and the effect is considerably milder, comparable to that of an aspirin. 

Sis anyone research before they got angry about it? I mean, really, if there wasn't much, then it didn't seem to be harmful unless someone took everyone's. 
I don't know, guess its the college student in me.   

[plunderphonics]

For the record, there are stop-gap measures being installed to ensure what's in bags is what PSi and the Host City intends to be in bags but I can further comment that no matter what there will not be ANY consumables in future bags of any type.

So, no candy, or chips?  

Kinda sucks we would lose the possibility of candy due to someone wanting to pass out some trashy pseudo-drug.

[randomcelestial]

"Most of our knowledge about Kratom risks and dangers is still based on the oral tradition of Asian villagers, however: people that possibly would not know about any kratom side effects associated with let us say schizophrenia or high blood pressure - for the simple reason that these people until today would hardly ever diagnose such conditions and also because most illnesses frequent in the western world are unknown to them. But recent western research into kratom side effects have not supported any assumptions that would allow conclusions to serious side effects or dangers of kratom for healthy people and infrequent/moderate consumption.

We do however definitely know that daily use of kratom over extended periods of time will lead to dependence. Kratom dependence then will lead to a desire for higher doses in shorter intervals and finally require withdrawal. Withdrawal symptoms have been reported as unpleasant and lasting several days - which is to say that Kratom dependence is far less serious than more common addictions as to nicotine, alcohol or sleeping pills.

Still it has to be said that kratom is nothing to be consumed on a daily base like i.e. coffee. Even as a close relative to the coffee plant, Kratom is much stronger than coffee and does not warrant daily consumption.

Long-term daily high dose Kratom consumption is also reported to induce nervousness, sleeplessness, loss of libido, constipation and the darkening of skin complexion.

Just as any other herbal remedy, or as a matter of fact any kind of drug, Kratom can be overdosed. Kratom overdoses can cause serious conditions. The known risks and dangers of Kratom overdoses include hallucinations, delusions, listlessness, tremors, aggression, constipation and nausea. "


From Kratom.com.