Imagine the controversy if it was a jackpot and not $1,000!

But this, from the OP, c'mon:

"A Maine man who was arrested Thursday for selling methadone to an undercover police officer apparently used money from the sale to buy a lottery ticket that won him $1,000.

Michael David, 46, will not be allowed to keep the winning ticket.

"I guess it will be up to a judge to decide, but it's in our possession right now as proceeds from a drug transaction," Ellsworth Police Chief John Deleo said Friday.

David, who has been staying at a motel on High Street, went into the Irving Mainway gas station Thursday and left the clerk a methadone pill and a phone number, Deleo said."

  staying at a motel on High Street,

Good catch, Coin Toss.  Very observant of you!   LOL

Its bothersome because drugs, money, weapons and other "evidence" has so often "disappeared" from evidence lockers that they don't even bother to report it, anymore. Much of it never makes it into the 'counting room'.

These pills magically become "wrong" because the person peddling them is not wearing a lab coat.

The excuse that he used 'drug money' to buy the ticket is a smokescreen for people who don't engage in much critical thinking. If the 'drug money' had been in his left pocket, while the money that bought the winner was in his right pocket or on his debit card, would that have made a difference? Of course not.

What you are seeing is the institutionalization of theft in the name of crime prevention. It won't be long before your car can be taken because you have an unpaid parking ticket.

I've seen cars taken for that already.  And I agree completely.  Everything.  You nailed it!  You said what I was getting at.  Thank you!

I see an ugly pattern developing.

I don't think the guy should get to keep the ticket,because it was purchased with money he made from sellling drugs.I know some people may feel this is unfare.But the is law.If he would have purchased a car or a house the police would have also taken them away from him for the same reasons.

What will happen to the clerk when this man gets out of jail? Does the press even have to mention the clerk's part in this? Is it not enough public information that a policeman had gone underground and busted this man? What happens to "responsible reporting"?

usually any money or items of value  that are confiscated during a drug arrest are auctioned off and the proceeds are returned to the local drug enforcement agency.

Same thing happens when people are caught poaching in my state.  Everything is confiscated, even the truck they were in.  If they're convicted it's all auctioned off.  I think it's very fair.  If they weren't out there breaking the law, we wouldn't need to be paying people to catch them.  So it's only fair that when they're convicted they help pay for the resources they caused to be needed. 

??????????......too?

WAS this person play'n with marked $$

MONEY?????? IF SO THAT PERSON may

be lobster "STEW"

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 

I guess it's obvious that they don't have a program there where you can report criminal activities anonomously. An article like this tells me that if I lived there I wouldn't report anyone in the fear of repercussions.

Another thing the article said he APPARENTLY used drug money to buy the tickets. 

Definition of apparently:  according to what seems to be the case but may not actually be so.

 I'm sure when all is said and done the drug money will have been what was used to buy the tickets.