| pokoko said: Oh, you have got to be kidding. That's all it did, huh? It dispersed them? That is one of the more amazing down-plays I've ever seen in my life. People couldn't breathe and they were merely dispersed? Go head with it, man, you do what you need to do to fit everything into your political viewpoint. I just wanted to show that pepper spray has downside as well as upside, which is true of any form of weapon. Why anyone would deny that, I do not understand. However, since you wanted it: December, 1993, Chicago: an unidentified person forced a school to evacuate after running through the hallways dispersing an entire canister of pepper spray. The person was being a jackass. The problem was the person, not the substance that was being used. In March 2003, Chicago: two mothers were arrested after the school their children attended had to be evacuated. The evacuation resulted from the two women feuding inside the school with pepper spray. The mothers used the pepper spray as means to harm each other, not as a means to defend themselves. And when you're in a heated feud, your rationality goes way down. 2007, FL – Astronaut and Feminist poster-girl Lisa Nowak confessed to lesser charges as part of a plea bargain in the attempted kidnapping and murder of Colleen Shipman. Nowak’s arsenal in the crime included pepper spray, an item Shipman testified that Nowak sprayed threw into her car window at the Orlando Airport. Again, the pepper spray was used to harm someone else rather than defending herself. September, 2010, a Topeka: woman was charged with five counts of aggravated battery after allegedly pepper spraying several individuals Same applies here. June, 2011, Malta: a 76-year old man was pepper sprayed as he tempted to fend himself against two muggers. This is the first case that may demostrate where pepper spray, itself, is dangerous. However, it would be useful to know how he used the pepper spray. Improper use can easily cause harm to the user, so the question is was the man affected regardless of proper use? June, 2011, Maryland: a 28 year old woman was taken into custody after she began taking photographs of a pregnant woman without permission. The ensuing argument resulted in the pregnant woman being pepper sprayed. The pepper spray was used as a means to harm. August, 2011: Abingdon, PA: a woman was victimized with pepper spray during a home invasion when two teens broke into her residence. The victim was not only a 77-year old senior but also a Holocaust survivor. Same thing here. August, 2011, Brooksville, FL: 22-year old Danitra Hicks was arrested for driving to her cousin’s home and pepper spraying her. Hicks’ anger was attributed to a Facebook feud the two that had had earlier in the day. Offense instead of defense. Sept. 2011, Redcliffe, W. Australia: a former cop was charged for the assault of a man and of subsequently falsifying official documents about the incident. The cop was accused of having pepper sprayed the victim and dousing him with beer. Sounds like the former cop was being a total jackass. However, that's his problem, not the pepper spray's problem. October, 2011, Mesa, AR: more than fifty people had to be evacuated from a psychiatric hospital when police thought using pepper spray would lure a runaway patient out of an air vent. The fumes from the spray traveled through the vent and into every room on the floor of the hospital. What a terrible idea to begin with. However, the problem lied within the idea, not the pepper spray. Another reason why this case doesn't support your position is that it's not a matter of what was used to lure the runaway patient out, but how it was used. Ongoing, Norfolk, VA: security guards hired by the Norfolk school district have been equipped with pepper spray since 1997. Despite a slew of complaints from parents the school officials are determined to continue the practice, even after an October incident when a female security guard blasted away to break up a food fight in one cafeteria. In this occasion the pepper spray hit several children not even involved in the food fight and sending all students in the cafeteria to the school nurse, and a few to the emergency room for inflammation of their asthma. Same thing applies here. The problem lied within the idea, not the pepper spray. In addition, how much pepper spray was used? A little bit? An entire canister like the dude in the first case? http://hubpages.com/politics/The-escalating-misuse-of-pepepr-spray |
The main theme I got from the cases you mentioned were misuse, whether the person had a terrible idea, using pepper spray in a state of irrationality, or was just being a total jackass. Out of all of them, only one of them could demonstrate that the pepper spray, itself, is dangerous depending on how the elderly man utilized it.
I'm perplexed as to why you're so mad at bouzane. My interpretation of his argument was that the problem wasn't the pepper spray, but the fact that the club held more people than it should and many exits were blocked. And then, you also have to ponder these questions. Was the pepper spray used with the knowledge that the club was overpacked? Was the person that used it aware of the fact that several exits were blocked?
