1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (61 page)

449

FACT :
The synthetic drug MDMA, better known as Ecstasy,
interferes with the ability of the body to regulate temperature
and can cause liver, kidney, and cardiovascular failure, and death. In one notable case, a fifteen-year-old Seattle teenager died in 2002 after taking Ecstasy for the very first time.
They call Ecstasy the “party drug,” but I bet it’s hard to party when you’re dead.

“NIDA InfoFacts: MDMA (Ecstasy),” National Institute on Drug Abuse,
www.drugabuse.gov
.

Sam Skolnik, “Teen’s Death Raises Awareness that Ecstasy Can Be a Killer,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer,
SeattlePI.com
, May 10, 2002.
www.seattlepi.com
.

450

FACT :
Ecstasy is
often used in conjunction with other drugs
such as marijuana, meth-amphetamine, cocaine, ketamine, and other drugs, making it even more dangerous.
Drugs: they’re not a salad bar.

“NIDA InfoFacts: MDMA (Ecstasy),” National Institute on Drug Abuse,
www.drugabuse.gov
.

CHAPTER 10
You Have
the Right
to Remain
Shocked
Things You Shouldn’t
Know about Crime
and Punishment

451

FACT :
More than
one in 100 American adults
are incarcerated, an all-time high for this country.
The fractional ones are the hardest to keep locked up. They always slip between the bars and escape.

“New High In U.S. Prison Numbers,” Washington Post, February 29, 2008,
www.washingtonpost.com
.

452

FACT :
The United States has
2.3 million people
behind bars, making it the world leader in the number and percentage of residents we incarcerate. China is a distant second.
That’s because China just executes its criminals instead.

“New High In U.S. Prison Numbers,” Washington Post, February 29, 2008,
www.washingtonpost.com
.

453

FACT : Two-thirds of the world’s executions
occur in China.
Told ya. Two-thirds in China, one-third in Texas.

Tania Branigan, “China Proclaims Big Fall in Executions after Court Reforms,” The Guardian, March 11, 2006,
www.guardian.co.uk
.

454

FACT :
State corrections dollars (adjusted for inflation) have increased
127 percent in the past twenty years
; the amount spent on higher education has increased just 21 percent.
And nobody sees the connection?

“New High In U.S. Prison Numbers,” Washington Post, February 29, 2008,
www.washingtonpost.com
.

455

FACT :
Ten percent of U.S. states now spend
as much money or more
on corrections than on they do on higher education.
Maybe China is on to something.

“New High In U.S. Prison Numbers,” Washington Post, February 29, 2008,
www.washingtonpost.com
.

456

FACT :
Felons who are considered physically unattractive receive
50 percent longer jail sentences
on average than those deemed attractive.
You are warned, Lyle Lovett.

Kimberly Barrett and William George, Race, Culture, Psychology, & Law (Sage, 2005).

457

FACT :
In 1986, Wisconsinite Stephen Avery was convicted for sexual assault, attempted murder, and false imprisonment, but
was exonerated eighteen years later by DNA evidence
. In 2007, just four years out of prison, Avery was convicted again, this time for the murder of a young woman, and sentenced to life in prison.
And they say you can’t go home again.

Russ Kick, Disinformation Book of Lists: Subversive Facts and Hidden Information in Rapid-fire Format (The Disinformation Company, 2004).