A 73-year-old Florida woman has been arrested after she brought a bag of methamphetamine to her doctor's office, asking for the substance to be tested because she was worried about how smoking it was affecting her.
On November 5, Barbara Lee Ray asked doctors at the Complete Care Family Medicine Associates office in Fort Meade, Polk County if they could "check her well-being," presumably because she thought the substance was doing her harm (via The Miami Herald).
According to a Polk County Sheriff's Office arrest report, Ray pulled out three items from her handbag: a small clear plastic bag containing a white crystal-like substance; a small plastic container with a similar substance; and an empty prescription bottle with her name written on it.
The health care facility contacted Polk County officers to report a person allegedly overdosing on medication. She was then taken for a check-up at the Bartow Regional Medical Center.
Meanwhile, the Sheriff's office tested the white substance in the plastic bag and container, which came up positive for meth.
After her medical clearance, she was booked into Polk County Jail for two counts of possession of methamphetamine and two counts of possession of drug paraphernalia.
According to the police report, Ray did not overdose on medication, nor had she consumed the medication.
"The suspect appeared under the influence of methamphetamine at the time of contact/arrest," the report read.
It is unclear where Ray obtained the drug or why she was smoking it, The Herald reports. Police believe that she had been using the substance for around a month.
Methamphetamine is a powerful, highly addictive, stimulant drug that affects the central nervous system. Known as chalk, ice, meth or speed, it usually comes in the form of a white, bitter-tasting powder or a pill. Crystal methamphetamine, or crystal meth, is a form of the drug that looks like glass fragments or shiny, bluish-white rocks.
Meth has been classified as a Schedule II drug, which makes it legally available only through a non-refillable prescription. Medically, it may be used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and as a short-term component of weight-loss treatments. However, prescribed doses are far lower than those typically abused, according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse.
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