http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2017/08...ply-store-as-shoppers-prep-for-world-war-iii/
ROYAL OAK (WWJ) – As the rhetoric ramps up over North Korea and nuclear weapons, the cash registers have been ringing at a local Army Supply store, where some are apparently prepping for a third World War.
Ben Orr, the manager of Joe’s Army Navy in Royal Oak, says he’s been selling a lot of “prepper items” over the past week or so.
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“We’ve been very busy. Unusually busy, I’d say,” Orr told WWJ’s Sandra McNeill. “It’s definitely an increase, just in selling all the normal prepper stuff, end of the world stuff. A lot of water prep stuff, food, MREs — the military meals.”
And there’s been a substantial increase in the sale of a particular item they don’t sell much of — a so-called radiation antidote called potassium iodide.
Ben Orr shows off a package of potassium iodide. (Credit: Sandra McNeill/WWJ Newsradio 95)
“It actually stops your thyroid from absorbing any radiation. So, it fills your thyroid with iodine, which it normally does anyways,” said Orr. “Your body can’t tell the difference between bad, radioactive iodine and acceptable iodine, so it actually will stop you from getting thyroid cancer.”
The antidote is usually hard to find, but Orr’s store carries two brands.
“It’s supposed to work. It’s FDA approved. But they also recommend you don’t take it unless the government says to take it,” he said. “Unless people are scared of something, we don’t really ever sell it.”
Another popular request: gas masks. But most people looking for those will be out of luck.
“Gas masks are a big thing too, but we only sell them as novelty,” said Orr. “A lot of them are out of date and we don’t guarantee them to work.”
Orr said most people come in and make their purchases without giving any explanation, but a few people have mentioned North Korea.
“Some woman came in earlier and said she had to get it because of little Kim (Jong-un),” he said. “I don’t know if she was making a joke or just got it mixed up.”
ROYAL OAK (WWJ) – As the rhetoric ramps up over North Korea and nuclear weapons, the cash registers have been ringing at a local Army Supply store, where some are apparently prepping for a third World War.
Ben Orr, the manager of Joe’s Army Navy in Royal Oak, says he’s been selling a lot of “prepper items” over the past week or so.
ADVERTISING
“We’ve been very busy. Unusually busy, I’d say,” Orr told WWJ’s Sandra McNeill. “It’s definitely an increase, just in selling all the normal prepper stuff, end of the world stuff. A lot of water prep stuff, food, MREs — the military meals.”
And there’s been a substantial increase in the sale of a particular item they don’t sell much of — a so-called radiation antidote called potassium iodide.
Ben Orr shows off a package of potassium iodide. (Credit: Sandra McNeill/WWJ Newsradio 95)
“It actually stops your thyroid from absorbing any radiation. So, it fills your thyroid with iodine, which it normally does anyways,” said Orr. “Your body can’t tell the difference between bad, radioactive iodine and acceptable iodine, so it actually will stop you from getting thyroid cancer.”
The antidote is usually hard to find, but Orr’s store carries two brands.
“It’s supposed to work. It’s FDA approved. But they also recommend you don’t take it unless the government says to take it,” he said. “Unless people are scared of something, we don’t really ever sell it.”
Another popular request: gas masks. But most people looking for those will be out of luck.
“Gas masks are a big thing too, but we only sell them as novelty,” said Orr. “A lot of them are out of date and we don’t guarantee them to work.”
Orr said most people come in and make their purchases without giving any explanation, but a few people have mentioned North Korea.
“Some woman came in earlier and said she had to get it because of little Kim (Jong-un),” he said. “I don’t know if she was making a joke or just got it mixed up.”