Florida man wearing 'No, seriously, I have drugs' T-shirt arrested for drug possession
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Oddly, it wasn't the T-shirt that led to John Balmer's arrest at a Kmart in Hudson, Florida. But it probably didn't help.
When a Pasco County sheriff's deputy walked into the store on Monday, he saw Balmer, 50, try (unsuccessfully) to pass a "bag of green leafy substance" to the shopper in line behind him, according to the arrest report. Balmer then paid for his items, allegedly leaving a bag on the ground; when a clerk alerted the deputies, they found marijuana and methamphetamine in the bag. Here's his arrest photo, from the Pasco County Sheriff's Office Facebook page:
The sheriff's office captioned the photo: "Pay close attention to the T-shirt." Balmer would have been wise to heed that advice before he left his house, but as David Moye notes at The Huffington Post, this isn't the first case of drug arrestees tempting fate with their shirts: In November, a Kentucky woman was arrested for meth possession wearing a "I love crystal meth" T-shirt, and a month earlier, another Florida man was busted for carrying a bag of pot with a Monopoly-inspired "Go Directly to Jail" shirt. The cops, I'm sure, are much obliged.
Article continues belowThe Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
