Report: Dad Finds Ecstasy Tablets in Used Copy of Grand Theft Auto
Report: Dad Finds Ecstasy Tablets in Used Copy of Grand Theft Auto
April 8, 2009
A British man who purchased a pair of used Grand Theft Auto games discovered what appeared to be ecstasy tablets wrapped in plastic and hidden in one of the game manuals.
The Telegraph reports that Richard Thornhill, 34, bought the second-hand games at a GameStation in Gloucestershire:
When I opened the box up, the cling film wrap fell out. I could not believe it. I have two children and my son plays Xbox all the time. He could easily have opened the box and found them.
I dread to think what the consequences would have been if he had. He is only 12. He could have died. It was a pre-used game, but that should not make a difference. My wife is beside herself over this because she keeps thinking about what could have happened and so do I.
The retailer and local police are investigating.
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GamePolitics ShoutBox
Posted 03/21/10 at 05:35pm
Andrew Eisen: Pretty subtle if it was (and forward thinking being from the early 70s).
Andrew Eisen: Pretty subtle if it was (and forward thinking being from the early 70s).
Posted 03/21/10 at 05:31pm
JDKJ: You sure it wasn't an early airing Republican campaign ad?
JDKJ: You sure it wasn't an early airing Republican campaign ad?
Posted 03/21/10 at 05:29pm
Andrew Eisen: I saw a movie last night where a guy killed his just born daughter. Knifed her right in the crib. Slowly.
Andrew Eisen: I saw a movie last night where a guy killed his just born daughter. Knifed her right in the crib. Slowly.
Posted 03/21/10 at 05:28pm
JDKJ: They're using federal funds to kill babies!! Damn their eternal souls to Hell!!
JDKJ: They're using federal funds to kill babies!! Damn their eternal souls to Hell!!
Posted 03/21/10 at 04:39pm
ZippyDSMlee: hayabusa75:Lurking is nice but taking out the big stick of reason on these younguns is not bad either :X
ZippyDSMlee: hayabusa75:Lurking is nice but taking out the big stick of reason on these younguns is not bad either :X
Posted 03/21/10 at 04:27pm
hayabusa75: *sidesteps, parries* Good, Zip. Still been around, but I spectate more than post these days.
hayabusa75: *sidesteps, parries* Good, Zip. Still been around, but I spectate more than post these days.
Posted 03/21/10 at 04:20pm
ZippyDSMlee: hayabusa75:*relazation* Holy crap! have not seen you in awhile man, how are you? *pounce*
ZippyDSMlee: hayabusa75:*relazation* Holy crap! have not seen you in awhile man, how are you? *pounce*
Posted 03/21/10 at 03:56pm
hayabusa75: Actually, 1 in 3 by 45 sounds right to me. You basically have 30 years to screw up. Seems plausible.
hayabusa75: Actually, 1 in 3 by 45 sounds right to me. You basically have 30 years to screw up. Seems plausible.
Posted 03/21/10 at 03:50pm
Andrew Eisen: Huh. Both Women's Med Center and Planned Parenthood sport a "1 in 3 by age 45" statistic. I wouldn't have pegged it at even 10%.
Andrew Eisen: Huh. Both Women's Med Center and Planned Parenthood sport a "1 in 3 by age 45" statistic. I wouldn't have pegged it at even 10%.
Posted 03/21/10 at 03:45pm
Valdearg: Not entirely sure. Honestly, the EO is disappointing, but not incredibly offensive, so I didn't actually read the author's final opinion. What is important is that I believe Stupak has now announced his intention to vote yes.
Valdearg: Not entirely sure. Honestly, the EO is disappointing, but not incredibly offensive, so I didn't actually read the author's final opinion. What is important is that I believe Stupak has now announced his intention to vote yes.
Posted 03/21/10 at 03:43pm
Andrew Eisen: "As many as 1 in 3 women will have to have an abortion in her lifetime..." That statistic came from where?
Andrew Eisen: "As many as 1 in 3 women will have to have an abortion in her lifetime..." That statistic came from where?
Posted 03/21/10 at 03:36pm
DarkSaber: Aye, what fool bastards are these, that sail blackest pirate seas?
DarkSaber: Aye, what fool bastards are these, that sail blackest pirate seas?
Posted 03/21/10 at 03:34pm
Valdearg: Hopefully this will be enough to convince the "stupaK block" to jump off the fence and vote for the bill.
Valdearg: Hopefully this will be enough to convince the "stupaK block" to jump off the fence and vote for the bill.
Posted 03/21/10 at 03:33pm
Valdearg: Making sure that Abortions don't recieve federal funding.
Valdearg: Making sure that Abortions don't recieve federal funding.
Posted 03/21/10 at 03:33pm
Valdearg: If you want to read the deal, here it is. Basically it's an executive order that will enforce the Hyde amendment.
Valdearg: If you want to read the deal, here it is. Basically it's an executive order that will enforce the Hyde amendment.
Posted 03/21/10 at 03:29pm
Valdearg: Hrm.. Sounds to me like Dem leaders cut a deal with Bart Stupak, a big blue dog, for his vote on healthcare.
Valdearg: Hrm.. Sounds to me like Dem leaders cut a deal with Bart Stupak, a big blue dog, for his vote on healthcare.
Posted 03/21/10 at 02:13pm
hayabusa75: Who's Keefer?
hayabusa75: Who's Keefer?
Posted 03/21/10 at 01:58pm
ZippyDSMlee: Wow JD is on a tear he's almost filled the shout box up :P
ZippyDSMlee: Wow JD is on a tear he's almost filled the shout box up :P
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Comments
A parent checked the box like a parent should have...
crisis averted...
kids safe...
police investigating...
GTA not to blame...
world at peace....
nothing left to see here...
you can go about your business...
move along...
Praetorian
"If you sit by the river long enough, you will see the body of your enemy floating by."
http://www.myspace.com/pree_tawr_ee_uhn
Going to have to disagree with you a bit there. This is a colossal failure on the part of the retailer for offering the product for resale without even opening it. Judging by the wording of the article, all they had to do was open the box, which they should be doing anyway so they can make sure the game works, and they would have found the drugs. Either that, or this is some cashier's idea of a prank.
Either way, it is a huge relief that the parent was being responsible and found the drugs and took care of it properly.
"That's not ironic. That's justice."
>which they should be doing anyway so they can make sure the game works
^this.
If I bought pre-owned, I'd think twice about going to this particular store simply because I can't be too sure they'd have checked to see if the game worked.
/b
it's also possible the drugs were behind the manual and didn't fall out when the retailer checked the disk
岩「…Where do masochists go when they die?」
The point is the store should have checked. They make sure the game's usable, and that's it. Maybe it's time for used-game stores to be a little more thorough.
Reminds me of what an editor overheard from a clerk at a game store. "Grand Theft Auto III? That's the game where you can do ecstasy and s***, right?"
GameSnooper
More "evidence" for Jack Thompson, lol
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Jack Thompson claiming that Rockstar is shipping free drugs with GTA and still saying drugs and murder simulator can make somebody violence in 3...2...1
Ugh sadly I think everyone sees that one coming... and Jack is a big enough moron to do it too.
I'll just leave this here.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm on it.
Cue the inevitable chorus of 'what was he doing giving GTA to a 12 year old?' It's entirely possible his kid could handle GTA.
Anyway I can't imagine how this would happen, I mean wouldn't you take better inventory of your contraband?
----------------------------------------------------
Debates are like merry go rounds. Two people take their positions then they go through the same points over and over and over again. Then when it's over they have the same positions they started in.
The dad bought the games, the dad opened the games.
He miiiiight just be a little more tech-savvy than the dinosaurs who still believe games are the product of beelzebub.
I was under the impression that it was a product of Mephisto.
No no no, Mephisto is the lord of hate, Baal is the lord of destruction, he's the one you're after.
-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away....what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-
Not surprising in the least. My brother used to hide his weed of choice in his case for NCAA Footbal 07.
These idiots just forgot to take the pills out before they sold it.
Wouldn't it just be smooshed in the case? unless it was Mexi brown stuff...
Trevor Gray ganjookie@yahoo.com
Is this really news worthy?
You have a better idea for a story? ^^
"HEY! LISTEN!"
So there is now a concrete connection between gaming in general and GTA in specific and drugs. Sigh. Though I find myself curious what playing GTA 4 under the influence of ecstasy would be like.
BTW kiddies let this be a reminder for you. Be more careful where you stash your drugs.
I am missing the point your say? What point is that? Drugs exist; games exist; these are given facts. There is no common thread between them other than that.
You'd think the retailers would have paid more attention when checking the game in at the time.
Nevertheless, it is good news that the parent discovered this - who knows what could have happened otherwise...
--- I do more than just play games. I draw, too: http://www.silvermelee.deviantart.com
Ecstacy and GTAIV? They really don't go together...
Ok, he's only asking for the store to be stricter when checking their used copies, which is actually really reasonable. But for gawd's sake teach your 12 year old kid to not just eat any unidentified pills he finds in other people's stuff.
if a kid is too young to understand that he shouldnt eat random pills...
then he is DEFINITELY too young to be playing GTA.
'pre-used'? Isn't that new?
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma
"Pre-used" in England is the same as "pre-owned" in the States. It's a simple case of British English vs. American English.
"That's not ironic. That's justice."
I guess that makes sense. 'pre' would be short for 'previously' When I first read it, I thought of the definition of 'pre' as 'before'
E. Zachary Knight
Oklahoma City Chapter of the ECA
http://www.theeca.com/chapters_oklahoma
nah, im from the UK n i never say (or have actually ever heard anyone say) 'pre-used'.
Everyone says 'pre-owned', the stores sell as 'pre-owned' (visit game.co.uk - listed as 'pre-owned').
Think its just this person who says 'pre-used'.
True, but mostly we just say 'second hand'.
I prefer second-hand after those incredibly annoying Pre-Owned GameStation adverts.
But pre-used.... yeah never heard that one. Maybe it's Gloucetershire thing?
English are different in US, Britain, Ireland, and Scotland. They don't usually say the same word as we do.
Example:
Subway in America, Tubes in England
Guys is used in US, Chaps is used in England, and Lads are used in Ireland.
This is an example of how language all though the same can be different in other countries. Spanish spoken in South America and Spain are not exactly the same. Come on, people this is how geography and culture works.
Hmm... sounds like the place where he got the game might be similar to the old pizza place in town near where I live. They did something similar, save it was in a napkin that came with a slice of pizza.
Ah, the old "Happy Meal, with extra happy" gig, eh? Maybe the dad inadvertently gave a wink or a nudge and walked away with a little more than he was expecting?
I wonder if Keith Vaz will jump on this one. He's done crazier things.
I used to use Genesis game cases to hide all kinds of stuff from my parents when I was in High School. Good times.
I have no doubt he will. I'm somewhat surprised he hasn't blamed the global economy problems on video games. :P
This is a retail issue, not specifically a games one I think. What if they had been found in a Blockbuster rental case? Or in any kind of second hand or rented container/machine/product?
The ecstacy is packaged with the game so you can go into a fantasy world where Jack Thompson is one of the pedestrians you run down in GTA.
My uncle used to hide his weed in his Cream records, nothing new. I think that it is good that the parent was so invloved with the purchuse of the game. I think that a parent can decide whether a child is mature enough for an M rated game, just like an R rated film. Also, major stupidity on the behalf of the retailer.
"Who I am is not important... my message is" -Reven
He should not have been buying this game for his kids in the first place. But really do most parents follow the ratings systems?
Now hang on, I was playing M-rated games at 12 years old, and this father seems very in-depth in the raising of his child. He would know better than anyone what is appropriate for his children. He surely knows that GTA has killing and yada yada in it.
-If an apple a day keeps the doctor away....what happens when a doctor eats an apple?-
How does the dad know what ecstasy pills look like?
If I would have found pills in a game I would have been like, "Weird." and thrown them away.
The article states that they don't even know that they were ecstacy. Watch them turn out to be asprin.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com
Maybe he didn't know but took them down to the police station out of concern... at the station there would be likely to be somebody who could identify what kind of drugs they were and inform him.
Then gets arrested for possesion... That'd be too funny lol
Heh, well joking aside... the article doesn't mention when he realized what kind of drugs they were, but it does say that he brought them down to the police station
There are a couple of websites to come to mind offhand that can be used to ID pretty much any pill out there.
http://www.drugs.com/pill_identification.html
http://www.webmd.com/pill-identification/default.htm
Are both pretty comprehensive.
Whether he'd have the knowledge or presences of mind to even look for those on the other hand...
Could of been a knee jerk reaction, "Ohnoes! Drugs, in my videogames?!"
On a completely unrelated note, do you know what Rabbit Transit and Stampead where?
Yeah, I agree - I wouldn't have really thought there were illegal right from the start - I would have just tossed them out.
I just have something to say to the multiple people who made comments along the lines of 'Why is he buying GTA for a 12 year old?' Look at how he worded the sentence, "I have two children and my son plays Xbox all the time. He could easily have opened the box and found them." Doesn't it sound like the games wasn't intended for the kids? I'm under the opinion that he bought the games for himself.
I found a human finger in my used copy of Madworld yesterday. Those bastards from Blockbuster. They promesed me a severed head.
The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com/
Had this been at an EB/GameStop, the sales staff would've asked him if he wanted to trade in those tablets toward a reservation of 'Madden 10.'
Joke aside it could all to easily have happened at an EB/GS. Many of their used games do not come with the manuals (some without the boxes for that matter) so the .docs tend not to get checked as carefully as they should. Methinks that will change here shortly.
Geez, I never get any good promo items when I buy used games!
--
http://mallvillestory.blogspot.com
Forget used games, I don't even get any cool promo items with new games.
I would advise not shopping at the store again, at least for used games. Seems like the kind of thing that a store employee would catch when checking to make sure the game works. Congrats to the dad for checking out the game before letting his children play the game.
Life doesn't always make sense. If it did it would be boring.
Would be great to find stuff like that in used games.
WTF is he doing leaving GTA4 where his 12 and younger sons could get it?
I always injest pills that fall out of my used game cases.
If it was Chinatown Wars, that would make some sense since ecstasy is one of the drugs you can sell.
When Jack Thompson runs his mouth, does anyone really care what he has to say anymore?
Call me a conspiracy theorist, but what if the dad is only using the box as an excuse for why there's ectasy in his house? Maybe he was worried he'd be found out, so he set up a plot to take the suspicion off of himself.
Yep, I'll have to agree with you, that's pretty idiotic of you to say that.
What's up with the people asking why he got this game for his son, and left it lying around for his son to find? Nowhere in the article does it state that he bought the game for any of his children. And really, he's 12 years old, he should know not to be shoving random pills down his throat.
It's a little thing called natural selection.
The real question is : Would you rather find drugs or a condom in your GTA copy?
I will not buy securom games. http://www.wolvenmoon.com/sharedfiles/message1.jpg and http://www.wolvenmoon.com/sharedfiles/message2.jpg
So this was reported to the police, telling us that Dad doesn't do drugs, or at least "what appears to be ecstasy."
Things he wouldn't have reported would have been a large wad of cash, jewlery, a sealed a jar of trans-fat, or a screener copy of Wolverine.
Blame CSI. After all, everyones an instant expert after watching.
That's true, after watching CSI (all series) for three years. Now I can lift fingerprints. Do complicated forensic sciences, wearing a cool sunglasses, quote famous quote from famous character like how Grissom do it, able to track down character, and other stuff that no one can do. Sign me up to be a detectives/Crime Scene unit investigators.
Hey, you too? Well lets go then! I don't know about you but I don't think I'd make it through the front door with all my "knowledge"!
...YYYYEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH
What's up with the people asking why he got this game for his son, and left it lying around for his son to find? Nowhere in the article does it state that he bought the game for any of his children. And really, he's 12 years old, he should know not to be shoving random pills down his throat.
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