"Edward F. Bachner, 35, of Lake in the Hills, was charged with one count of illegal possession of a toxin."

Oh crap, I guess that case of oven cleaner in my garage could get me ten years, tack on the other ten years for each of these in my yard:

Castorbean
White Snakeroot
Senecio
Ragwort
Water Hemlock
Poison Hemlock
Cocklebur
Pigweed
Jimsonweed
Johnsongrass

And that doesn't even count the toad stools and other fungus that pop up every spring...

Just how many wives does this guy have?

The radio said it was enough to kill 100 people, since he isn’t a Muslim I am guessing she must have put on a little weight since the wedding...

Puffer Fish is considered good eatin’... if cleaned properly. So it could be your best meal... or it could be your last.

am guessing she must have put on a little weight since the wedding...

Most of them do....

I just heard that Hillary has rescinded her offer to treat Obama to dinner at that new sushi bar — it seems that the fugu fish is no longer up to her special standards. Whatever that means.

If you’re trying to draw a parallel between toxins that grow naturally and a man who tries to order high levels of concentrated doses that have already been extracted, your logic is pretty pathetic.

Fertilizer (ammonium nitrate) in small doses isn’t such a big deal and has legal uses. But if someone tries to order a thousand pounds of it, they’ll need to explain why.

Or do you also think concentrated cyanide and arsenic should be available at grocery stores?

“Jimsonweed”

A friend of mine got into some of that while clearing brush, wiped the sweat from his eyes and ended up with dilated pupils for a day.

Meanwhile, Atlantic puffers are still known as “chicken of the sea”.

http://drumwagon.com/dw-images/toadfish_medium.WMV

"Fugu me!"

"Or do you also think concentrated cyanide and arsenic should be available at grocery stores?"

I have both here at my business for heat treating, it doesn't mean that I am going to actually kill someone with it. Did he make a threat? Did he announce he was going to kill someone with it? Possession of something toxic shouldn't get you 10 years.

I can go catch a dozen puffer fish right now out of the Indian River in Florida and have enough poison to kill a room full of people, should I face 10 years in jail if I keep them? I have a gun, does that mean I am going to kill someone with it? Your argument is exactly the same as anyone who wants to ban firearms by the way.

LOL! Gotta wonder if Hilldog baked Obama some of her famous ‘Brownies Foster’ as a ‘reconciliation gift’ for their triumphant meeting at Unity, NH.

“Jimsonweed”

Pass the crimson to me, Jimson. -“Transfusion”

Possession of something toxic shouldn't get you 10 years.

Possession of anything sold to you by an FBI agent should not get you any jail time.

Isn't it fascinating how the article title and the first two paragraphs dance around the real facts of the case?

Be afraid of insane OCD people with blank checkbooks.

LOL! I didn't even read the other thread before I posted the "insane OCD people with blank checkbooks" comment, but I know my gummint well:

">

Full thread: After home raid Lake in the Hills man is charged with possessing neurotoxin ...-(IL)

LOLOL!!!!

Only four guys are pictured, but those four are making $25-30 dollars an hour with bennies, and their equipment ain't cheap. There's prolly a battalion of police/paramilitary types just out of camera range.

Was the guy breathing a mercury-chlorine atmosphere for comfort in the house? ;-)

Maybe he's a freaking alien. :-)

Tetrodotoxin is a neurotoxin that in large doses can cause paralysis and death. It's often linked to consumption of puffer fish, a delicacy from the Indian and Pacific oceans that can prove fatal if not prepared properly, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

There is quite a bit of seafood that can prove fatal is not prepared properly (especially when served raw). While this is an "interesting tidbit" it has absolutely NOTHING to do with the concetrated poison the man was attempting to buy.

The focus of this story is misdirected (and the "puffer fish" angle is getting much of the discussion in the media today).

Bachner, using the alias Edmond Backer, attempted to purchase 98 milligrams of tetrodotoxin through the Web site of a New Jersey chemical company, according to the FBI. Bachner claimed he was a doctor working for Illinois-based EB Strategic Research, which does not exist. The quantity of the toxin requested alarmed an employee at the chemical company, who alerted authorities, the FBI said.

This is the big reason for this being newsworthy. Man attempts to buy considerable quantity of known toxin by mail.

Now another question. What is the industrial/medical use of this substance since apparently it was being sold online to qualified buyers?

The FBI needed something to get their botching of the anthrax case off the headlines.

To discuss the fish, “if cleaned properly”. I thought the goal was to include just a bare trace of the toxin to get you a tingle.

I do know that the chefs who serve it require special license (in Japan) and are prohibited from offering it in this country.

I thought the goal was to include just a bare trace of the toxin to get you a tingle.

Correct... that's why I said “properly”.

A friend of mine tried it before while visiting Japan. When he ordered it, he was told "If improperly prepared, you will first feel a slight tingling in your fingers and toes. But if properly prepared, you will feel a slight tingling in your fingers and toes."

I do want to try it some day....

Or do you also think concentrated cyanide and arsenic should be available at grocery stores?

They used to be available at drug stores and chemical supply stores.We used to use cyanide to destroy ant beds. We soaked some bulbs in arsenic and other toxic chemicals to deter varmints.

Have you claimed to be working for a chemical company which doesn’t exist? No? Well, the man who was arrested did just that.

Correction: It wasn’t chemical company. It was, “Bachner claimed he was a doctor working for Illinois-based EB Strategic Research, which does not exist.”

Same thing as far as his mis-representing himself.

If I sounded like the guy wasn’t an idiot I’m sorry, I do.

I just don’t think that possession of a toxic substance should earn him 10 years when he never did anything with it is all.

I work around deadly stuff all the time, hell someone can go home in my woods, find some mushrooms to chop up in their spaghetti sauce and kill a room full of people if they were a raving lunatic.

If the feds want to nail him for misrepresenting himself on-line (that’s a joke right there!) then it’s one thing, but the charge for possession of a toxic substance is ridiculous IMHO unless they had proof he was going to force someone to ingest it.

Could you give me a link to a site that elaborates on this topic of natural toxins. I’ve been sicked by something new here in my garden, but my doctor doesn’t take my thoughts seriously. We grow veggies and have lots of flowers, but this is the first time I’ve had symptoms of paralysis after weeding and cleaning out weeds in the garden. I sat for 2 hours in the sun the last time before a neighbor saw me and called for help. Outside of the garden, I’m agile and without symptoms? Any thoughts? Thank you

http://www.vet.purdue.edu/depts/addl/toxic/bytox1.htm

Hope this helps. I have heard that being hunched over like that can affect your BP when you get back up, causing symtoms that vary in people. Also if you take BP medicine being out in the sun and working can really make you sick also.

No, it's not the same as the anti-2nd Amendment argument.

Where is the right to own neurotoxins listed in the US Constitution? This is a poison that has no known practical application. Cyanide and arsenic used to be available for general purchase. But it was removed from general availablibility because some demented people misused these substances.

Someone requested a known neurotoxin, enough to kill 100 people, with no good reason. Anyone who orders such a substance should be questioned, just as anyone trying to purchase a truckload of ammonium nitrate, or someone trying to purchase a firearm should have to prove they are not a convicted felon or mental patient.

YOUR argument, on the other hand, is the typical argument of libertarians, which is that anyone should be able to obtain anything they want, that the government should only prosecute after one of these nutjobs gets a hold of a neurotoxin and sprinkles it over a salad bar or whatever the plan may have been.

The accused has not been sentenced for 10 years. He has been taken aside for questioning, as he should be.

By the way, where do you store you mortar rounds and land mines, inside your tank beside the bazooka? Oh wait, you cannot legally own such devices. I guess there are some restrictions out there so that liberty does not become adulterated into license, which inevitably leads to removal of such liberties.

Let me ask you this, if the accused had been a Muslim who had recently located to this country from the Middle East would you be so quick to defend his 'liberties'?

I thought not.

I thought they were driving instructors.