Marijuana.com

Greenman

You have been on these boards for a year and a half now, and even been nominated for moderatorship twice. Which is pretty intersting in and of itself for a cop on a marijuana discussion board.

There are a couple of questions that I have been rolling around in my mind for a while now, and figure I will never really know unless I just out and ask them, so here it goes.

1> What was your opinion of marijuana users before you started on these boards.

2> How has that opinion changed since you have been on the boards.

3> Why have you been around for so long, and keep coming back with all the ... closed minded people that have posted in the past?

4> Have you ever been more leinent to a marijuana user you have detained based on anything you have read on the boards? Or thought about the boards while making an arrest?

5> What is your personal payoff from your tenure here? Why do you keep coming back, you have to be getting something, even if it is just a sense of satisfaction or good will, out of this. Either that or you really are just a glutton for punishment.

You also mentioned in another post that there were several other law enforcement officers that you knew that visited or frequented these boards. What is their opinion of marijuana users, and how has it changed if at all.

I think it will be interesting for people to see the effects their efforts and these discussion boards can have on LEO's in general. It would be foolish to think that they do not come here, and equally foolish to believe that some even frequent these boards, even if the only lurk.

So we should acknowledge that we have something to do with the image of marijuana users to the police officers of the country. Since you are the only outspoken police officer on these boards who has been here long enough to take a good look at, and perhaps for people to see what their time behind the keyboard is doing for them.

Peace.

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AnarchistBarbie

How about this one, which someone asked me and I really couldn't answer it...

'Does striking up a conversation with an LEO amount to probable cause to search a person, ask for ID, etc?'

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Niteshift

Wow........lots to answer in one post.

"even been nominated for moderatorship twice. Which is pretty intersting in and of itself for a cop on a marijuana discussion board."

Trust me, nobody was more suprised than me.

"What was your opinion of marijuana users before you started on these boards."

My tendency is to view people as indivduals and not as a group. Admittedly, I don't always manage to pull that off, but I do try to do it that way. Sometimes, sheer necessity dicates using a whole group as an example, but not often.

So I guess my answer is that I tried to look at an individual, not a group.

"How has that opinion changed since you have been on the boards."

I may have softened on a thing or two, but I'm pretty much the same guy who came here.

"Why have you been around for so long, and keep coming back with all the ... closed minded people that have posted in the past?"

Yeah, I get my fair share of those who dislike me the second they find out my profession (clearly labeled under my name. I feel like a moose that is tagged for study). But along the way, I've been shown a lot of kindness and even friendship by other members. I was honored to have members tell me they were coming to FL and asked about arranging a meeting. I feel good when others PM me non-drug related problems and ask my advice on them.

In short, for every person that tries to hammer me over my job, a bunch more prove to me that it's just one person, not a whole group.

"Have you ever been more leinent to a marijuana user you have detained based on anything you have read on the boards? Or thought about the boards while making an arrest?"

Actually, once in a while I have thought of the board.

I remember a couple of times when I just "wind tested" an ounce or two of mj and let the person go, thinking of some certain members that gave me an especially hard time and wondering what they'd say if they were standing there.

As far as being more leinent..........I've been pretty damn leinent for a long time. But I will say I probably tend to explain things a little more now as a result of being here. Previously, I wouldn't be as inclinded to, but through being here, it has become more apparent to me that a lot of what I considered "getting static" from someone was actually that they'd been given bad advice before. So now I tend to explain a bit more and see if the "static" can be cleared up.

"What is your personal payoff from your tenure here? Why do you keep coming back, you have to be getting something, even if it is just a sense of satisfaction or good will, out of this. Either that or you really are just a glutton for punishment."

My masochism aside.......

As I said above, I have "met" some genuinely fine people on here.

As I've also said in other threads, in my opinion, part of my job is to educate the public. I'd answer the same questions to someone who walked up to me on the street, so why not here? As a staff member pointed out to me, this may be one of the few chances some members get to actually ask a cop a direct question and get a direct answer..........all without worrying if I notice their eyes are red or if their clothes smell like weed.

Aside from my LE work, I am an instructor. I got into it because I like to teach. Once you get that bug, it's tough to get rid of. So if I can answer some questions correctly and educate some readers a bit better, then I'm doing ok.

Lastly, there is a pay off to my profession too. First, by dispelling (or attempting to) some myths and urban legend surrounding perceived rights and procedures, I may save some cop down the road from having to get into an unnecessary confrontation with a mj.com reader, because they will now know that the cop can do what he's doing or has to do what he is doing. Likewise, it may save the reader from compounding his problems by getting himself into something worse because he got bad advice.

And I know some members here have actually learned that we (cops) are required to do some things some ways. It's really out of our control. A lot of time, just explaining what a procedure entails and why we have to do it that way goes a long way.

"You also mentioned in another post that there were several other law enforcement officers that you knew that visited or frequented these boards. What is their opinion of marijuana users, and how has it changed if at all. "

I can only answer for a few, but the answer is not really. None of them have had the interactions I have had, so they see mostly the negative stuff. Many come only for intel purposes and, to be honest, some of the threads on here are pretty good for that.

"I think it will be interesting for people to see the effects their efforts and these discussion boards can have on LEO's in general."

It certainly can have a positive effect, if the officer is open to it. Some will not be. Some will.

A perfect, non-drug example is truck drivers. A lot of cops have a very negative attitude towards them and even more drivers have a negative attitude towards cops. Their relationship is much like the one between mj users and cops. The cops see people breaking laws, the other side sees cops cramping their style and costing them time/money/freedom. I grew up around trucks and truck drivers, so I've seen both sides. It affects how I deal with drivers. Because of my dealings with drivers that frequent the highways through my area (and they do talk amongst themselves), I've gained their confidence and respect as a fair and reasonable guy. To the point of where I've been listening to the CB radio on interstates 400-500 miles away from my jurisdiction and heard my name come up in favorable terms. Many of them will stop in town if they have time and have a cup of coffee with me. Some will even give me info about some illegal things that other drivers are doing because they know I'll handle it fairly and not allow the person to tarnish the image of the whole group. Make any sense?

"So we should acknowledge that we have something to do with the image of marijuana users to the police officers of the country."

You are absolutely correct.


"'Does striking up a conversation with an LEO amount to probable cause to search a person, ask for ID, etc?'"

Just talking isn't, in and of itself, PC for anything. However, what you say or what I see may become PC.

For example, walking up to me and asking me advice about what kind of lock to put on your house is not PC to search you or demand your ID. Asking me what sort of lock is best to go on your house so that it will be harder for us to get in if we serve a warrant on the grow operation in your basement might get some more questions from me.

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Sometimes the light at the end of the tunnel is muzzle flash.

wakDbuds

*tips hat*

commonsense

Hey Niteshift:

I'm a lawyer, and I just spent a good part of the evening with narcotics officers who were removing suspected meth lab paraphernalia from a client's property. (it wasn't his, really) I got into a discussion about the drug war with one of the officers and found what he had to say really interesting. I wonder if you share his views?

He said he wouldn't mind at all if all drugs were decriminalized, not legalized, just decriminalized. He'd just want it where he could still confiscate drugs and go after dealers and manufacturers, but he could live without busting users. But for this to work, he says, more cases would have to make it to the jury and there would have to be some real teeth in the justice system for those who break the law. He believes prosecutors make too many softball deals and that convicts are released far too early from prison in most cases.

In general, he believes that drugs would be a problem for society whether they were legal or not. He feels that the monetary cost of enforcing the war on drugs is probably less than the cost that would come if drugs were made legal. He gave examples of things like rises in insurance costs, health/injury related costs, cost of replacing stolen property, costs of increased crime, and so on.

I really like this guy. He is a bright, reasonable person who does what he's been doing for the last fifteen years because he sees the devastation that drugs bring to our society and he wants to do something about it. I do not entirely agree with him, but I respect him for trying to do what he thinks is right and I'm glad that we have people who care enough to risk their lives serving society.

I'm curious to know whether you share his views and whether his views are common among law enforcement officers. Also, I applaud you for coming on this site where so many view you as the enemy and I wonder if you have any ideas for bridging the gap between law enforcement and those who are anti drug war so that this large segment of our population would want to work together with law enforcement in dealing with our nation's drug problem.

 

rick

Most impressive, guys!

Niteshift - you've been around nearly as long as I have. You've helped me out personally and I am proud to call you my friend - thanks for all the great work you do!

commonsense - I'm so glad to see you register for the CheapTalk discussions! I've been following your posts on the front page and always find them very intelligent and thought provoking. You are a valued addition to our membership!

It makes me quite happy to see this thread - really. What we have here is quite remarkable.

Rick

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Logos

Yeah, what Rick said...

Welcome to the boards Commonsense.

Any objections to some front page exposure for this thread?

(edit)
Doh, it's already there...
(/edit)

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The more I learn, the less I know.
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Panama

Not bad for a buncha fuggin stoners.

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"This fight against the War on Drugs is not a war in the classic sense of the word, so it's virtually impossible to point to one instance and say, 'That was the battle that stemmed the tide in our favor'. We have had many small victories that have led us to where we are and each day we continue to communicate and educate brings us that much closer to our ultimate goal: The end of marijuana prohibition." -Richard "Panama" Red-
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DoritosMan

sorry here for my lack of knowlegde, but what's intel? all i can think of is intelligence but that doesnt make any sence.

And niteshift we dont agree on lots of things, but its really nice to have a police officer around to give out tips and some insight of the other side of the drug war. Even tho im hundreds of thousands of miles away from your jurisditcion

keep on postin'

dm

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I pity the fool that dont use the search engine!

Daniel

Intelligence gathering...

You got illegal activities that are talked about on this site. What better way for LEO's to figure out what is going through the minds of stoners and probably other "Hard" criminals.

We talk about where we hide things, how we get away, how we talk to cops, how we act, what we do.

We talk about events, we talk about protests. Every once in awhile, tidbits of information come out here that lead LEO's somewhere.

We show our personalities while we break the law. This has to be of use to the LEO community.

DM-remember when I tracked you down? I have far fewer resourses available to me than any LEO. Intelligence...

Daniel