Mostly, I sleep really well in my cozy cell. The air temperature is cool. The section of the wing where I reside is pin-drop quiet. On a rare occasion, I might hear someone talking in their sleep or maybe a cough or sneeze. I am very happy that no one snores around me. One night this week, I woke up startled like someone was trying to wake me up. I went to bed around 9:45 pm, and noticed it was about 12:15 am. Around this time, we have correctional officers that check our bunks to make sure that we are accounted for. One or two of these officers like to shine a very bright flashlight right at you, which I have adapted to sleep through during this count. When I woke up, I looked around the cell and couldn’t see anyone. I stepped out of the cell and still no one stirred. I am not sure why I abruptly awoke. Then, again at around 1:00 am. The same thing happened. Except this time, there was a face about a foot from my face whispering, “Gaughan, get your ID and come with me for a drug test.” Sheesh, I guess the officer failed to notice the “do not disturb” sign hanging from my bunk.
I have heard about these middle of the night drug tests but have not had the unfortunate encounter of one until this week. After 66 weeks in prison, I had my first drug test, which is nothing more than providing a urine sample in a plastic Dixie cup. For the most part, drug testing is random, unless someone is suspected of using a substance, then the test is saturated instead of being random. In this context, saturated means that they test a group of guys located in the same area as the suspected individual. They conduct saturated drug tests since they cannot continually target one individual. My drug test was labeled as random which is really good. If I were to guess, I think that I would have been one of the only guys, if not the only guy, who hasn’t been drug tested on the campus. Every guy that I have spoken with has been drug tested on an average of about 5 times. Most drug tests also occur during the day, and it’s quite uncommon to have the middle of the night tests, but I was glad to learn that I didn’t have to leave my quarters and make the 1/2 mile round trip where the tests are usually conducted. Oh, don’t worry – I passed the drug test 🙂
You may be asking, “Are there even any drugs there?” Yes, all prisons have illegal drugs. In Morgantown, they routinely test guys with instant tests, like the one I had, which are able to identify around 25+ substances. Surprisingly, a drug that shows up on these tests is not commonly used here, like marijuana, cocaine, heroine, etc. Not many guys do drugs, but the few that tempt their faith use K-2, also known as Deuce, which is a mixture of neurotoxic chemicals like Raid or rat poisoning that is liquified and sprayed on a piece of paper. Then, someone can mail the piece of paper to them in hopes that the mail does not raise suspicion. The paper is then torn into very tiny pieces, like a quarter of the size of a postage stamp. The paper is lit on fire where the smoke from the paper is inhaled for “the high”. You know how insects react when they encounter a spray where they might twitch or become paralyzed. Well, Deuce has a similar effect on a user – they might freeze up and just have limited paralysis, which could last for minutes at a time. This drug does not typically show up on the instant drug test, so the sample has to be sent off to a lab for testing. The inmate rumor mill has been running rampant with a few of these stories, so I imagine that my drug testing had something to do with a larger campaign to target and stop the usage.
Monday was President’s Day, so instead of working as an electrician apprentice, I was able to run the holiday Bingo game, which meant a payment of two bags of popcorn and two packets of Gatorade that makes about 2 gallons of the drink. The holiday meal was a delicious BBQ chicken quarter served with the regular fixings and as many ice cream sandwiches that we could grab (which many had freezer burn). As the week progressed so had the weather. One day was so beautiful that I was able to play a few games of pickleball outside in shorts and a t-shirt, which is quite unheard of for February in Morgantown! For me, it was a really good week that flew by quite quickly. I appreciate your taking the time to catch up with my little journey and for all the supportive love that you have continually shared. I wish you a wonderful week and keep an eye out for those little miracles 🙂