Most folks here know that our former police chief, Norm Stamper, has become an outspoken proponent of ending drug prohibition. The organization that he works with today (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition – LEAP) currently has thousands of members across the country. Recently, the Union-Leader, a New Hampshire paper, profiled several police officers who enforce the drug laws during work hours, but speak out against them as members of LEAP in their spare time.
LEAP represents the most prominent deviation from the standard political orientation of police organizations in this country. For nearly every major drug policy reform initiative of the past few years – both here and in other states – the primary opposition have been police unions. And for years, police organizations have always been seen as a “special” special interest, easily trumping the arguments of civil libertarians, even when those “potheads” were exactly right about what the real consequences would be. And the politicians always stood by the police. But today, that dynamic has changed.
Back in November, I posted about a troubling incident involving a man from Jefferson County named Stephen Dixon. Border Patrol officials were stopping cars at a roadblock near the Hood Canal Bridge and arrested Dixon, a disabled veteran and medical marijuana patient, for having 3 grams of marijuana on him while a passenger in a car. Eventually, U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan dismissed his case and told the Border Patrol to stop referring minor drug cases to him. And Sullivan is no Norm Stamper either, he’s the guy who’s been trying to extradite Marc Emery from Canada.
But the Border Patrol out on the Olympic Peninsula has continued to take advantage of a law that gives them free reign to set up roadblocks and question people within 100 miles of any international border. Despite claims that they’re looking for terrorists, Border Patrol agents have been using this power primarily to chase after undocumented workers and drugs. The following video looks at this huge expansion of Border Patrol personnel on the peninsula along with the tactics being used, including boarding public buses and questioning people about their citizenship.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AQcVeWh3CuE[/youtube]
As you can see from the video, not all law enforcement officials are happy about what’s going on. Jefferson County Sheriff Michael Brasfield turned down requests for assistance with what the Border Patrol is calling “Operation Stonegarden,” primarily because it’s far too focused on detaining illegal immigrants and not enough on securing ports of entry. The Police Chief in Port Townsend has also spoken out against what the Border Patrol is doing.
Even politicians are starting to get involved in the protests as well. Congressman Norm Dicks sent a letter to the incoming head of the Department of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano, referring to the tactics of Border Patrol as “rogue actions by agents with questionable jurisdiction.” As Norm Dicks also concedes in his letter, he was someone who had previously asked for an increased Border Patrol presence along the Canadian border. He has also voted to allow Federal law enforcement officials to use resources to override Washington State’s medical marijuana law. Now he’s found himself in a position to have to fight to scale some of this back.
That dynamic is starting to happen in a lot of places. Over the past few decades, many politicians didn’t feel it was politically smart to question law enforcement budgets for fear that they’d be labeled “soft on crime.” Today, we find ourselves in an economic situation that now longer allows politicians this luxury. Going after undocumented workers, much like going after petty drug use, is one of those areas where we’ll need to reassess our priorities.
The Obama Administration has gotten off to a fairly good start on some of these issues. Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement that the DEA raids in medical marijuana states would end was great news for those concerned with the ability for local and state governments to establish their own regulations on drug use. This opens the door to new avenues for fixing the gigantic budget messes that the states find themselves dealing with.
It’s clear that the people of the peninsula aren’t threatened in any way by the undocumented status of many of the workers among them. As was shown in the video above, the Border Patrol crackdown has even harmed the local farming economy by going after these individuals. Is that what we should be focusing our resources on? Is this a smart investment of our tax dollars at such a critical time?
UPDATE: The Border Patrol Free Network has a hotline that people can call to report on incidents with Border Patrol. The number is 1-877-475-6138.
I hope they make all drugs legal then you HA will finally have your death wish.
We then will seat back and watch the black sheep(druggies) of America destroy it’s selves.
Cheers
Maybe we should take up a collection to help send the “truth” back to school (the question is what grade to start at) to learn how to use the English language.
How about “sit” back and “themselves”?
Thank you for the amusement. Your illiterate posts are quite funny, since you pretend to be an educated person commenting from the wingnut right. Instead, you are an embarassment and indicative of the level of thinking from the fact-challenged right wing.
@2 correctnotright
“it’s selves” is correct.
You have two spelling mistakes to correct !
Then go after me buck o!
Are you the one trying to be manly and still pee’s in bed? I can’t tell the difference between correctnotright and lefty.
Once again the war on drugs provides police with an excuse to act like storm troopers.
@2 “an educated person”
He made that claim? Good Lord.
It seems we can take it for granted that, when a troll has “truth’ in their screen name, they’re going to spew some weird shit.
@3
“it’s selves” is correct.
It is? Why don’t you undo the contraction, genius, and try that again. Does “it is selves” make any sense to you?
If you came here to prove that you’re moron, congrats! Mission accomplished.
@6
Yeah should have been its..
its selves as I don’t think very highly of HA and it cronies so to refer to you as “it” is correct.
Any how you make such a issue out of this is childish and shows how insurer you ha’s are.
Maybe it’s the drugs????????
HAHAHAHA
@5
No, I never said that girly man did.
You a druggie too?
@7
Any how you make such a issue out of this is childish and shows how insurer you ha’s are.
How insurer?
Why don’t you quit before you humiliate yourself even further?
And save your “druggie” nonsense for your elementary school classmates. This is an arena for adult discussions about important topics.
Just to pick nits…
If you want America to be destroyed, America is sigular, so itself (one word, no apostrophe.) There is no plural of itself as it is by definition a singular term. And no, United States (plural) of America does not make the nation plural. The nation remains singular. In your sentence the pronoun refers to black sheep (druggies) so themselves. You can try to claim poetic license and use it instead of them but that doesn’t make it any less grammatically incorrect. Either way it would still be one word, itself. Itselves is wrong. Its selves is wrong. It’s selves is spectacularly wrong.
You got it wrong three times. May I send you a copy of “Hooked on Phonics?”
@9 and 10
No, but it would be nice to get back to the subject Drugs and not my typing.
If you would like to stay on me that’s okay I’m not embarrassed by my typing errors have goldy setup column on it.
Only little people and I mean petty would act your way. Not only do you showing insecurity you can’t even stick to the subject matter. Drugs I understand will make you forget…
HAHAHAHA
@9
“Why don’t you quit before you humiliate yourself even further?
A little thing like you will never make me quit buck o.
And save your “druggie” nonsense for your elementary school classmates. This is an arena for adult discussions about important topics.”
Important topics like what Limbaugh would know?
Your a kick buck o
Sure, I’ll stick to the topic. Maybe you should use some drugs. It might help you come up with a coherent sentence.
But since we were on the topic of pot, not all drugs, how many people have died as a result of an overdose of alcohol, the currently legal drug? How many documented deaths from THC overdose have there been?
If in fact I had a death wish, I would drink copious amounts of alcohol. It would actually work. Pot, not so much.
And sure, maybe I’m piling on but it’s (correctly used) not too much to ask that you proofread before hitting submit. Simple typos I’ll never criticize. Total disregard for the written word is a problem. (BTW, that would be “You’re a kick bucko” unless you were trying to say Bucko has ownership of a kick.)
@13
“Sure, I’ll stick to the topic. Maybe you should use some drugs. It might help you come up with a coherent sentence.”
Here you go again !!!!!! HAHAHA
“Total disregard for the written word is a problem.”
More important issues facing America than my typing. If this really bugs you then your a sicko get some help.
Ill tyype at youu nextt timee and tri to do beter
Cheers
I asked you some on topic questions. Ignoring them?
Something funny that just occured to me, which is admittedly off topic.
How many Righties have you heard use some variation of the argument, “This is America, damnit. If you’re gonna be in this country, speak English. I don’t want foreigners speaking their own language. They need to talk like Americans!”
@15
I found your topic questions boring sorry.
Your comparison apples and oranges.
Yep your funny buck o
This is why I like reading the post on this site.
It’s darn right hilarious thanks for the laugh buck o.
Keep them coming.
@11
No, but it would be nice to get back to the subject Drugs and not my typing.
If you would like to stay on me that’s okay I’m not embarrassed by my typing errors have goldy setup column on it.
Excuse me asshole, but let me copy and paste the first comment you left in this thread:
I hope they make all drugs legal then you HA will finally have your death wish.
If you came here to have an intelligent discussion, then why were those the first words you typed? If you want people here to treat you like someone whose opinion matters, prove to us that your opinion matters. Don’t come here acting like a moron and then get bent out of shape when people call you a moron.
@17
Really, I thought you HA where for free speech?
If my opinion offended you great.
So get on with the topic and if I find a posting worthy I’ll step in.
Cheers
@18
Really, I thought you HA where for free speech?
We certainly are. You’ll have to point out where we’ve indicated otherwise. Freedom of speech, however, is not the same as the freedom to keep other people from making fun of you. If you’re that thin-skinned, this probably isn’t a good place for you to be.
If my opinion offended you great.
Your opinion didn’t offend anyone. Your opinion was moronic. And the people who’ve been in this thread explaining to you that you’re not properly equipped mentally to engage in a good discussion here are simply trying to keep you from wasting more of your time humiliating yourself.
So get on with the topic and if I find a posting worthy I’ll step in.
I’m giving you the floor here to elaborate on this topic. You’ve brought nothing to the table. If you think what I’ve posted above is incorrect in any way, let me hear it. If you think I’ve displayed poor logic, throw down. Otherwise, run along now and play with some people at your own level.
Sorry, the picture didn’t come through.
Subject: Fw: Dog For Sale
Read the sales pitch!
DOG FOR SALE
Free to good home. Excellent guard
dog. Owner cannot afford to feed him anymore, as there are no more drug pushers, thieves, murderers, or
molesters left in the neighborhood
for him to eat.
Most of them knew him as
‘Holy Shit.’
——————————————————————————–
@18
“Freedom of speech, however, is not the same as the freedom to keep other people from making fun of you. If you’re that thin-skinned, this probably isn’t a good place for you to be.”
If you could read I have said I don’t care what you say about me GET IT! @11
I even said have Goldy put a column about my typing.
I really hate to get into name calling however your a idiot !!
You can’t read buck o @18
” get on with the topic and if I find a posting worthy I’ll step in.”
What a jerk this one is…
Not even funny any longer buck o
@21
If you could read I have said I don’t care what you say about me GET IT!
Then why are you whining like a little girl about how everyone is making fun of you here?
I even said have Goldy put a column about my typing.
Not very interesting. The fact that you’re a moron is not newsworthy, although it’s potentially entertaining for us. We do get some mileage out of trolls humiliating themselves for our amusement around here.
I really hate to get into name calling however your a idiot !!
Wow! What a comeback! Did you come up with that one yourself? Or did you get some help?
I’m still waiting for you to explain why you jumped into this thread with the first comment if there was nothing “worthy” to write about. Do you have a pair, or do you need to strap on a loaner?
@22
“Then why are you whining like a little girl about how everyone is making fun of you here?”
Show us you can read and prove this statement!
If you can’t then go home and cry on mom’s lap.
You guys a funny!
@23: Case closed.
The “truth” is a pompous fool who cannot even use the English language. Yet he/she likes to accuse everyone on here of being a “druggie”.
Of course, if we took an objective look at our society, we would see that prescription drug use, presciption drug abuse, illegal drug use and the use of other legal “drugs” such as alcohol in our society is probably much higher than most other countries.
In fact, if you look at the comparison for the Netherlands (most lenient drug laws) versus the US, well maybe we should legalize or decriminalize some drugs. The first number is the US, the second is the Netherlands:
And some more facts on how well the “war on drugs” is going:
Link: http://www.alternet.org/drugreporter/90295/
@23
How about this little bit of whining from comment #3:
“it’s selves” is correct.
You have two spelling mistakes to correct !
Then go after me buck o!
Again, do you have a point to make, or are you just here to humiliate yourself?
Marijuana should have never been made illegal in the first place. Why are we continuing this insane “drug war” against a weed? Adults should have the right to enjoy this substance if they choose to do so. If society wants to restrict children from using marijuana, then by all means enact sane laws to prevent youngsters from using and possessing marijuana, but don’t bring out the storm troopers to attack folks sitting around the apartment enjoying a little weed while watching a Harry Potter movie!
Enough already!!
I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: as long as any idiot can grow it, marijuana will remain illegal. The corporte masters of Congress will keep on pouring in the money to keep it illegal so long as there’s no profit in it for them.
@1 “black sheep(druggies)”
@3 “buck o”
@8 “druggie”
@12 “buck o” “buck o”
@14 “sicko”
@16 “buck o” “buck o”
@21 “I really hate to get into name calling however your a idiot” “jerk” buck o”
We’ve got a live one.
New and improved wing-nuts, now with 50% more nuts!
@24
I would think most drug users drive while under the influence.
How many auto accidents involved Drugs?
@29
When you need to repeat a post cause some of you ha don’t read the whole post or just pick what you want to response to.
These names I used where intended to show affection towards the poster.
The grammar nanny makes an appearance.
Exactly.
Broadway joe is trying to take credit for a very accurate quote he stole from someone.
Removal of Hamas From the EU Terror List!
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0903/S00023.htm
This is interesting if your interested, to see who is signing the petition,to remove hamas from the eu terror list.Look under U.S.A.
@24
I would think most drug users drive while under the influence.
How many auto accidents involved Drugs?
This is a viable question to answer in order to see the full picture of the carnage left on our roads due to drugs.