Plaintiffs' Case Wraps Up in Pepper Spray By Q-tip Trial

The witness D. Dubay from Defense Technology represents a corporation that covers up the dangers of their pepper spray product. The concentrated capsicum resin from the pepper is dangerous to people's health. This national marketing to police and prison employees does not address the health risks of this product, maybe that is one reason that medical expert witnesses are not allowed in this trial, they would need to address the use of their pepper spray product on homeless, prison inmates, mentally "ill", etc..

Witness Dubay attempts to convince the people in court that their capsicum concentration is safe, yet long term damage to the eye can occur in many cases, interfering with the blink reflex and tear ducts. Application by Q-tip is even worse as the saturated Q-tip would drip the capsicum fluid into the oil secreting glands at the base of eyelashes and also eyelids. The natural oil in the eyes may adhere to the oily oleoresin capsicum contained in the Defense Technology product used by Humboldt Sheriff deputies on protesters..

Throughout the nation (and world?) this dangerous product is being marketed as a "safe alternative" for police and security personal. Nothing could be further than the truth. The eyes are very sensitive organs and the burning pain felt during application of the pepper spray is actually epithelial tissue of the cornea being damaged..

The website for Defense Technology corporation is included so people can see what we are dealing with..

Police are increasingly using dangerous pepper spray to oppress the people of California from Humboldt to Hunter's Point and beyond. Each reason and scenario is different, yet the police depend on concentrated chemicals of capsicum, from peppers for all people they attempt to "control". This is beyond the normal concentration, strong petrochemical based solvents like toulene are needed to extract the oleoresin capsicum in exponentially increasingly stronger dosages. This is beyond anything that would occur in nature, our eyes and bodies are damaged by the intense burning sensation, actually tissue damage. Pain is our bodies nerves telling us that something is damaging our tissues. The eyes are especially sensitive and should not be exposed to pepper spray..


Pepper spray news from mediafilter;

PEPPERING PRISONS

If misuse is a problem on the street, it is a disaster in US prisons. The Department of Justice (DoJ) and every federal court that has looked at its use in correctional facilities has found abuses. This fall, after more than 100 inmates rioted at the privately-run West Tennessee Detention Facility, prison guards pumped pepper gas into two dormitories seized by the prisoners.

In late 1994, the DoJ Civil Rights Division investigated a county jail in Syracuse, New York, and reported an unacceptably high and improper use of pepper spray...
Nearly every inmate interviewed told ... of excessive and improper use ... particularly when inmates are not resistant and after the inmate has been restrained and presents no danger.

One suicidal inmate in Syracuse was restrained with three cans of pepper spray. The prisoner reportedly died shortly afterward from positional asphyxia.

More recently, a federal district court judge in Washington State barred the use of pepper spray in a state juvenile facility. [I]t should be used, he ruled, only if there is a threat of equal or greater harm to others or to a substantial amount of valuable property than the pain and danger of harm that the pepper spray presents. Pat Arthur, plaintiffs' attorney in the case, emphasized a lack of training: If staff aren't trained in other intervention methods, they resort to pepper spray. Calling it a chemical weapon, she said, I have seen videotapes of kids who are being sprayed. The pain is so intense:




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Police soaked his clothes with
so much pepper spray that when
they shot him with an electric stun gun,
his clothing caught on fire.
the kid immediately falls to the floor, screaming. There is no question of an injury being suffered.

WEAPON OF CHOICE
Local community groups, outraged by the startling increase in pepper spray use, are now calling for accountability. Copwatch demanded an outright ban after 37-year-old Aaron Williams, arrested for disorderly conduct, died after being beaten, kicked, and repeatedly pepper-sprayed by San Francisco police officers, probably while in a handcuffed, horizontal position.

Following that incident, police commanders conceded that officers had violated official policy against transporting handcuffed prisoners lying face down (raising the danger of positional asphyxia) and had disregarded the warning to pay special attention to suspects acting in bizarre ways. In this, as in other cases, regulations even when they exist are often ignored by cops who see pepper spray as a very low level use of force, well below the baton.

According to Allan Parachini of the ACLU, which helped draft the San Francisco policy,


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Williams died because of a failure of procedure. ... Pepper spray never alone causes death but when it is combined with other restraints, there is a definite risk of fatality. [It] can be a valuable tool in many different situations.

The challenge is to set clear standards regarding how to use it, in what circumstances. ... [I]t doesn't serve anyone's purposes ... when it is used on people in psychiatric distress or on drugs. When used on these people and combined with a hogtie restraint, you are just asking for a fatality.

Regardless of injuries and even death resulting from its use, there is not a single federal agency currently responsible for regulation.

Because pepper spray is probably not a food or a drug within the meaning of FDA legislation, the Consumer Product Safety Commission may be the only federal agency with authority in this field.

As manufacturers increase their efforts to push the use of pepper spray in prisons, to disperse crowds, and to facilitate cell extraction, federal regulation is needed now more than ever. But given the current state of the federal budget, such regulation is unlikely.

Equally unlikely is that police will voluntarily restrict use. Pepper spray, despite the risk of death, and precisely because of the instant punishment and torture it inflicts, is a weapon of choice.

More Med info about eyes;

Cornea is condensed layer of transparent, collagenous, connective tissue fibers covered externally/internally by layer of epithelium tissue.

Anterior and posterior chambers filled with watery aqueous humor secreted by ciliary body and returned to venous circulation through calans of Schlemm at corneal scleral junction. Obstruction of canals of Schlemm results in excessive accumulation of fluid in the anterior/posterior chambers and increase in intracellular pressure, causes injury to delicate retina and optic nerve fibers, can eventually lead to blindness..

Sealing the eyes opening from lid to lid and lining inner surface of both lids is transparent membrane called conjunctiva, with a thin layer of oil on its surface to cut down on evaporation while the eye is open.

Lacrimal gland supplies conjunctiva's moisture, the conjunctiva is sensitive to dust and other invasive particles.

Refrences available at SF Main library;

The Eye: Window to the World by Lael Wertenbecker

Human Brain Coloring Book by Diamond/Scheibel/Elson

Senses and Sensibilities by Jillyn Smith

Eye, Brain and Vision by David Hubel