Greenbud

Police find juvenile tattoo ring

Sept 1, 2004 | Washington Times


Baileyville, ME, Sep. 1 (UPI) -- A tattoo of the number 420, which reportedly has to do with smoking marijuana, led police to a juvenile tattoo ring in Baileyville, Maine.

A 17-year-old was questioned and police were seeking anyone who may have been marked by his crudely built tattooing machine, the Bangor Daily News reported Wednesday.

The investigation began a few months ago when a woman found 420 tattooed on her 13-year-old son's ankle.

"It supposedly represents 'it's time to go smoke a joint,'" Baileyville School Resource Officer Shawn Newell said. "I don't know why anyone in their right mind or stable mind would want to have 420 tattooed on their arm or ankle knowing what it means."

[Greenbudnote: Would he rather see "White Power" or "666" tattooed instead? Personally, I'd be proud to wear a "420" tattoo myself.]

Police said the high school student built a primitive tattoo machine using batteries, a stripped down electric razor and black India ink. The teenager said he loaned the machine to friends who tattooed themselves.

[Greenbudnote: Being the owner of three large, custom tattoos, all done by a professional artist (and registered nurse), I do not recommend anyone getting any ideas from this article. These "jailhouse" tattoos are easy to botch if they are done by an inexperienced person, and there's nothing quite like a blurry, faded, permanent stain on your arm that will be all but unrecognizable in a few years. Besides, hepatitis is very real, very common, and very incurable. Wait until you are 18, for Pete's sake, then you can have "420" tattooed across your forehead if you want. ]

__________________
"I believe in the near future, the government will use anti-drug hysteria to set up a police state."
-author William S. Burroughs, 1947

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