Last updated on 2016-12-30
In Aberdeen, meth is a family affair. Last April, we busted brothers James and George Schriver for keeping pot and meth (not to mention a suspicious number of guns) at their funeral home. Now we bust a father and son for dealing meth and more:
Jason C. Schnaidt, 43, and Logan C. Schnaidt, 18, had magistrate court hearings last week. They’re both charged with counts of possession of methamphetamine and unauthorized possession of the prescription painkillers hydrocodone, oxycodone and tapentadol. They’re also charged with keeping a place for the use or sale of a controlled substance.
…Magistrate Judge Mark Anderson ordered that the men have no contact while their cases make their way through court [Elisa Sand, “Aberdeen Father, Son Face Drug Charges,” Aberdeen American News, 2016.12.29].
It appears the elder Schnaidt has been convicted of multiple past drug offenses. The father made this photo, apparently of himself, his Facebook profile pic in 2014:
The younger Schnaidt shared this graphic (slightly edited for this family-friendly blog) on May 5, 2016:
Now thanks to Judge Anderson, the elder Schnaidt has to stay away from the younger Schnaidt.
Update 2016.12.30 08:14 CST: The South Dakota Department of Corrections Offender Locator lists four prior convictions for Jason C. Schnaidt since 2010, all for possession of controlled substances.
Here is an interesting statistic coming out of Colorado’s legalization of recreational cannabis. According to the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA), all drug-related charges have dropped by 23% on a judicial district level. It seems that ending pot prohibition can have positive effects in other areas of the war on drugs.
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/2-years-legal-pot-sales-colorado-shatters-revenue-projections-arrests-drugs-plummet/#z4009lEKGCPhHAGw.99
Porter, I’d expect marijuana arrests to go down if marijuana is legal. That article does not make clear that arrests for meth, painkillers, etc. have gone down. Do we have stats to that effect?
While pot is included in the above Schnaidt charges, pot seems to be the least of their problems.
Meth and pain pill abuse is up slightly since pot legalization but when juxtaposed to the rampant population growth, overall hard drug abuse is down.
https://www.drugabuse.gov/about-nida/organization/workgroups-interest-groups-consortia/community-epidemiology-work-group-cewg/meeting-reports/highlights-summaries-january-2014-4
My assertion about South Dakota is that infrequent users (maybe one Friday night a month) would choose marijuana on that occasion but since it’s not available they’ll choose meth or pain pills. Your prison is probably overcrowded by those convicted of hard drug possession that would have used marijuana, had it been more easily available.
I know the argument that smoking pot is wrong. Many things are wrong. It’s the level of severity that’s the issue. Selling alcohol in a bar to someone who drove there in a car is more wrong than smoking pot. Alcohol, meth, pain pills, gambling and tobacco are much more serious on the “wrongness” scale than cannabis. But, they’re all considered “wrong”.
I think that the main reason synthetic heroin pill use is on the increase is because doctors make a lot of side money prescribing them.
Jerry … Maybe in South Dakota, but things have changed drastically here. Doctors were given guidelines for prescription pain pill allocation and have considered them rules, instead. Many with chronic pain feel they have little option for pain mitigation than heroin. This is wrong. If you have chronic pain what’s the damn difference if you’re strung out on pain pills or not? Who does it hurt? Doctors are in the business of easing pain not in the business of social manipulation. Pain sucks and suffering with pain makes suicide look attractive.
*My daughter is a Hospice R.N. and this is her opinion and she’s convinced me, also.
Porter, I was speaking in the general accessibility of synthetic heroin through prescriptions. I noted that there is one town in West Virginia with a population of 392 that has prescribed over 9 million of these pills in two years time. I am no mathematician, but would argue that number seems pretty high per capita even for real severe pain.
These two guys are getting those pills from someplace, clearly meth can be made in your living room, synthetic heroin would be doubtful.
I believe synthetic heroin comes from China and isn’t prescribed by anyone. Synthetic opiates are a large category and are synthesized from opium, itself. Heroin, morphine, OxyContin, fentanyl etc.
http://www.opium.org/synthetic-opiates-list-drugs-derive-opium.html
I see what you’re saying, Jerry. My point is that states with legal pot have less problems with junkies and meth heads than states with ultra-strict penalties for everything.
But, what this blog doesn’t need is for the tenor (the drift of something spoken or written) to revert to the blog on this day in 2015. Lynn (before she became Rohrschach) was castigated by Cory. Kurtz goes nuts. Troy defends Lynn against my assertion that half the women in SoDak have abused pain pills and Dakota Free Press was branded the “drug blog” by Lynn, whatever name she chooses to use on Power’s Flowers Blog.
Read the Comments Section for Yourself …
https://dakotafreepress.com/2015/12/28/advertise-on-dakota-free-press-more-eyeballs-for-your-money/
Porter, I support both medical and recreational use of marijunia, so there is that. I also see pain pills over prescribed. Why that is, who knows, but lets be clear, they are expensive. https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/heroin
There is big time money in this pill:
“How much is a 60 mg OxyContin worth?
OxyContin is relatively affordable if you have health insurance. However, an out-of-pocket prescription runs about $8 per 80 mg pill. And for the poor, the uninsured, and the addicted, the cost is staggering—dealers charge anywhere from $30 to $80 a pill on the street.”
Pretty good return on investment. About the same as Payday Loan, including the pain.
The man and his son were just capitalizing on our failed drug war and its consequences. Instead of dealing with the mental health issues and the real pain issues, we allow this to continue to degrade the rural part of the country with no end in sight.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/drugs/special/math.html
I got ‘cha, Jerry. I’ve read enough of your thoughtful, insightful posts to have a pretty good handle on how much we think alike. Great minds, ‘ya know. lol What I’m saying is things have drastically changed in the last six months. No longer are OxyContin pills being prescribed like they were. In fact, the chronically pain inflicted can’t even get them, now and they deserve them. The needle has gone to the other extreme. Now in The South, USA who knows how long it will take for them to catch up. There’s a lot more “pill-billies” down there than anywhere, but SoDak is a close second.
Those people are related to me. My big brother and my dad. Wow i never knew it would get this bad. :(