After having been uncovered and discussed by online spoiler sleuths for several days, the apparent discovery of online drug use postings on Internet newsgroups by two members of the cast of CBS' upcoming "Survivor: Pearl Island" cast has gone mainstream and is now being reported by TheSmokingGun.com and Entertainment Weekly magazine among other media outlets.
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In a June 1998 posting to the alt.drugs group, Hastie sent a message with the subject line "I want meth in LA or OC?" Her note asked, "where I can hook up w/ some meth in Los Angeles or Orange County...and how and who do you know to ask about this shit?" She received no responses to that query about methamphetamine, the addictive stimulant. According to The Smoking Gun, at the time of her posting, Hastie was living near UCI's Irvine campus, which is in Orange County. In another June 1998 post, Hastie offered a "speed alternative" recipe featuring Aspirin, Vivarin (an over-the-counter stimulant) and Ephedrine, a prescription weight loss pill. Hastie noted, "that should work ok....hang in there, I understand :-)!"
In a later exchange with an online newsgroup buddy, Hastie offered to send the poster "some really cute new pics taken with my digital camera." After the poster joked that the photos should include "NAKED CHRISTA, JELLO, and METH!," she responded, "Well send those rocks on over my way and I'll send you a thousand pics! That would be enough to make anybody orgasm..." Another January 1999 post to alt.drugs asked "any good recommendations for getting the most out of your cocaine? I mean, can you take any pills, i.e. Vivarin, to keep your high for longer periods of time?" Hastie also asked for a suggestion as to where she could purchase a "coke bong" near Los Angeles.
From what the online sleuths have been able to determine, Hastie's newsgroup postings in the years that followed focused on computer-related matters only. According to her CBS biography, Hastie, who apparently graduated from UCI in June 2000, was once arrested on a misdemeanor charge of "disrupting an officer's abilities to perform his duties." According to CBS, while in college, she once refused to get off her car's hood as it was being towed, resulting in her arrest.
Incredibly, beyond Hastie's postings, another member of the group of sixteen castaways has apparently also posted messages to Usenet drug groups. Ryan Shoulders, who CBS describes as a 23-year-old "produce clerk" from Tennessee, apparently posted several messages in 1999 and 2000 to the alt.drug.psychedelics newsgroup.
In an August 1999 response to a complaint about the difficulty of scoring acid in Atlanta, Shoulders wrote, "Blah blah... Nashville is worse...I think they forgot what acid is here." Shoulders lives in Clarksville, about 45 miles from the state capital. In a November 1999 message, Shoulders, who according to The Smoking Gun has used the online handles TossSalad and Frog Muffin, actually sought advice about sending drugs through the mail. "Is it possible to send gel tabs thru the mail?!," Shoulders asked. "How well does the post office check for things like this? Do they check at all? Should it be sent in a regular envelope wrapped up in something? Or should it be sent in a small package in something like a CD case or something?" Later, in a May 2000 alt.drug.psychedelics posting. Shoulders sought "some tripping ideas" amd noted that "tripping is fun."
When contacted by The Smoking Gun regarding the alleged postings, CBS spokesperson Colleen Sullivan said that the network would not comment on such "speculation" and refused to say whether CBS was aware of the drug-related messages before being contacted by a Smoking Gun reporter. Sullivan repeatedly refused to address the drug messages since the postings were not "public" as for example the details of court cases would be. Sullivan did point out that "Survivor" finalists are subjected to drug testing, and noted that such a test resulted in the dismissal of one previous "finalist" who tested positive.
