When a guy dressed in a beaver suit can arrive on a Vancouver street corner and score some heroin within minutes, it highlights a serious problem in the city. So says the program director of a local radio station whose morning show performed the bit live on the air.
On June 4, CFOX-FM (99.3 The Fox) morning-show personality Captain Scotty went to the notorious Main and Hastings corner in the Downtown Eastside dressed as a beaver, carrying a sign advertising his desire to buy some heroin. Within minutes, a deal had been completed - broadcast live on-air during The Jeff O'Neil Show. Among those listening were two Vancouver police officers out on patrol. They headed to the scene and confiscated the substance, but did not make any arrests.
"They found him, intervened and took a small amount of heroin from him. He was very co-operative. He was handcuffed and ... using departmental discretion, after some discussion with him, he was released at the scene," said Vancouver Police Department spokesperson Jana McGuinness. "It was very dangerous for him to do that, but also he was potentially making light of a tragic situation. ... It's important that people know it's not a joke. From our perspective, it was a silly prank that could have had some serious ramifications."
CFOX program director Chris Duncombe (a.k.a. Dunner), who describes the program as an "edgy, comedy-based show," says the program was trying to demonstrate how easy it is to buy drugs in the city. - globeandmail
Hopefully one of the ramifications of this prank will be that the cops get the resources they need to get the drugs off the street.
No comments:
Post a Comment