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Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Police Drug Kits Aren't So Good at Figuring Out the Difference Between Oregano and Pot Either.


A seventy percent rate of false positives is nothing to get alarmed about. Let's be optimists and think of the glass as thirty percent full.
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6 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for posting. I also sometimes rant against the so-called war on drugs. My only comment to this is what Skid Roper and Mojo Nixon sung: "I don't wanna pee-pee in no cup/unless Nancy Reagan's gonna drink it up..."

Monkey Wrench said...

I smoke weed. It doesn't make me a murderer, a rapist, or a thief looking to pawn his way to another "fix." It has not been a gateway drug--stimulants scare me, and I don't want to be a victim to addiction.

Still, weed is a low-impact, cheap stimulant that doesn't have the addictive nature of cigarettes (chemically altered by corporations to be highly addictive) or alcohol. Smoking maybe once or twice a week for a few years now hasn't made me ANY less intelligent. Being high is not only euphoric for me, it really does stimulate the creative center of your brain. Add this to the fact that I have severe insomnia, and smoking a bowl or two has been a better sleep aid than all the pharmaceutical opiates that have been prescribed to me over the years. I also find that weed has severely cut the intensity of my depression, again more than the drugs from the pharmacy.

Am I saying that this will be the case for all people? No. People have addictive personalities too, and this is indeed the cause for abuse of marijuana. In itself, it is no more addictive than coffee or masturbation, in my opinion.

It hasn't hurt me. If anything (despite the inevitable affect on my lungs, which can be assuaged through various means) it has improved my outlook on life, my insomnia, and even my depression. I just think it's an herb, like many others, that can benefit us greatly if we use it correctly.


Wrench

Kelly W. Patterson said...

Thanks guys, I personally don't know one single person who agrees that pot should be illegal. And as you pointed out Wrench, there are quite a few instances where it's a proven fact that marijuana is actually beneficial.

But this actually speaks to an even larger issue, because one of the biggest and most abused fundraisers for the government are seizure laws. When you consider that just the fact you've been arrested, regardless of whether that leads to a conviction or not, is enough for your property to be confiscated, the idea of having a grossly inaccurate test determining whether you will be arrested or not is really a travesty.

Even beyond that, a lot of the people arrested on drug charges don't have a lawyer that is capable (or in some cases willing) to really challenge these charges.

Monkey Wrench said...

Exactly Kelly. The major reason that the fascist American police-community and the politicians behind them are against things like pot is because they can't capitalize off of it!! They can't tax it, and the weed-buying community deals their wares under the radar of the IRS and what have you.

It infuriates me.


wrench

Dale said...

Only 70% false positives? What good is that? Cops need something that gives a false positive every time. Only this, in combination with saggy pants laws that give the officer reason for contact with suspects, will ensure that our men in blue have the tools they need to keep our streets safe and drug free.

Kelly W. Patterson said...

I'd argue if I could Dale. Personally, I think they ought to be able to fill in "looked like a hippie" for probable cause on their arrest report. It would make their jobs much easier and we'd all be safer once they had more time to hide out and issue tickets to people who didn't execute a full stop at a stop sign.

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