There's at least one poster on DU who says he is in law enforcement, opposes the marijuana laws, and that his views are not uncommon among his colleagues.
The web site Police One, where you have to prove you're a cop to become a registered member, ran a short piece provoked by Rep. Barney Frank's press conference announcing his federal marijuana decriminalization bill. The responses are quite revealing of the mentality of (at least this self-selected sample) of our guardians.
Police One asked its readers: Are small pot busts taking cops away from important work?
http://www.policeone.com/drug-interdiction-narcotics/articles/1721593-Are-small-pot-busts-taking-cops-away-from-important-work-What-do-you-thinkHere are the replies (in reverse order):
Posted by
[email protected] on Thursday, July 31, 2008 06:14 PM Pacific Report Abuse
If the Feds want to "leagalize" pot, then they should regulate it like they do alcohol. License pot producers, regulate the manufacture and distribution, and place a heavy tax on it. Sell it ready to smoke like cigaretts or loose like pipe tobacco. It would probably still be cheaper than buying it on the streets. This would eliminate the illegal and highly competitive street dealers thus making our cities safer. All profits and taxes would go to law enforcement to clean up the mess this would create and to combat the other illegal drugs. Barney Franks needs to step away from the pipe and stick to smoking the other pole!
Posted by db1534 on Thursday, July 31, 2008 09:04 AM Pacific Report Abuse
I would contend that if the legislatures who legalized alcohol could see the problems it has caused today, they would not have up and legalized it as they did.Legalization of marijuana would compound the problems we are already fighting daily. Wilsond4 is right. When will it stop. It wont. This a small step to a larger agenda by the losers of our society. What would they say if we requested that ALL drug overdoses be treated as a suicide and all dealers and involved parties are immune from any type of liability. They want us to use our resources when their precious little users overdose because the dealers are the bad guys. Franks needs to get back to his congressional interns and stop trying to appease his loser constituents.
Posted by atom on Thursday, July 31, 2008 08:36 AM Pacific Report Abuse
The old addage of "take care of the little stuff and a lot of the big stuff takes care of itself" applies to this debate. Many pot arrests lead to much larger coke or meth busts. It also sends the message to those who break the law that they will be pursued relentlessly until they either quit committing crimes or leave your jurisdiction.
Posted by wilsond4 on Thursday, July 31, 2008 07:28 AM Pacific Report Abuse
So, does this mean someone smoking their 'personal' stash can be out driving too? Where does this end? Is one oxycontin o.k.? Is one Vicodin without a perscription going to be legal too? Small marijuana busts always lead to something bigger. How else would we get to the growers and buyers? So, is growing for other's 'personal use' going to be legal too? Come on legislators, stop smoking and stop making it tougher and tougher for law enforcement to do their jobs.
Posted by mac25 on Thursday, July 31, 2008 07:14 AM Pacific Report Abuse
It is already hard enough to get a conviction when they wont emit it is their property but now they will say it is for personal use and I am not selling. When you compare the drugs (marijuana/alcohol) they both have their down falls but seem to be the lesser evil of all the drugs out there. With that said, the battle on drugs including marijuana has gone on too long to turn around and try to make it legal. I would say most, at least 75, of the people that use marijuana are dirt bags and are involved in other crimes or some how connected to those that commit the crimes. The marijuana arrests are and can be used to assist us (police) in catching those criminals. If it is legalized it will be thrown in our faces day in and day out by these criminals.
Posted by dbpdmatt on Thursday, July 31, 2008 07:04 AM Pacific Report Abuse
I hadn't thought of that. I am changing my stance - I'm anti legalization whole heartedly. Given how many times the scum are able to weasel out of charges thanks to their high priced drug money paid lawyers, we need to savor what victories we can get in the war on crime. Sadly, we seem to be losing these days, so we we have to take what we can get.
Posted by MP5811 on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 09:53 PM Pacific Report Abuse
I still get exicited getting MJ, however much. It's me getting over on the dirt-bag. As far as wasting time, it's a part of the job... paperwork. Some of us are better at getting paperwork done than others. Get to know EXACTLY what your prosecutor likes to see and concentrate on that. This should cut down on the time it takes you to get paper done.
I agree with chr1s11 and Baltoblue, small pot busts often lead up to bigger and better things. And remember, Marijuana can impair driving skills just like alcohol. DO NOT LEGALIZE MARIJUANA.
There are those of us who relish in winning the little battles and don't mind doing paper work. Finding a small amount of Marijuana can be an excellent bargaing chip for gathering information. Might I 'cite/ release' for a small amount of Marijuana or toss a bit to the 'wind test?' Yeah, but somtimes cutting a break to a dirt bag can also pay-off in the end or later.
Posted by DBPDMatt on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 09:46 PM Pacific Report Abuse
Personally, I have no opinion. When the government tells me its illegal, I arrest for it. When they tell me its legal, I won't. My only stitch is that the law - or any legislation - not permit those currently incarcerated for marijuana crimes to get out. It should not be the release horn for the prisons.
Posted by Baltoblue on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 08:38 PM Pacific Report Abuse
With all of the other unecessary things that we as police officers are now forced to "waste our time on", such as animal complaints, civil matters, "assaults" between 7 year olds, etc., I think these people are focusing on the wrong issues. I'd rather lock people up for Marijuana all day long then taking 6 reports a day because people can't resolve small problems on their own. The fact is that Marijuana is great PC for searching vehicles (on smell), and also leads to larger cases. I for one, have never locked up a nuerosurgeon for pot, and most that I lock up for pot are involved in larger crimes.
Posted by rlindsey on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 06:33 PM Pacific Report Abuse
In 14 years of active road service as a cop, I have never responded to a call involving anyone who had smoked a joint and was ready to fight with their wife or anyone else for that matter. Yes, I think to much time is spent on arrests involving small amounts of pot. Alcohol, on the other hand, has cost our country Billions of dollars and a tremendous loss of life. While I don't think pot should be legal, I think we need to re-think this issue.
Posted by chr1s11 on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 06:33 PM Pacific Report Abuse
How many of those "small" pot busts have been turned over for info leading to a much larger bust for a much worse controlled substance. The pot heads tend to give up the crack dealer to save the misdemeanor record. Besides, it's still an illegal substance that causes serious dificulty for someone to be a productive individual.
Pot heads are the loosers that turn into coke/crack/meth heads. Then comes the violent crime they have to commit to support the habbit.
Posted by spd853 on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 05:27 PM Pacific Report Abuse
I think we waste time on plenty of crimes. It is our job. Those cops who think it is a waste of time just "wind test" it anyway (if they do anything at all).
Posted by Raymundo on Wednesday, July 30, 2008 04:34 PM Pacific Report Abuse
I think we all know that pot heads just want to be able to do what they want. Marijuana kills brain cells and they don't come back, hello we need those. Marijuana should stay illegal and I hope congress continues to see that it should be illegal.
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