Pot and police. The amount of discretion and power that cops have on this issue has been bubbling in frustration under my skin for a while and is now physically revolting to me.
Fact #1: A police officer can pull you over and search your vehicle if he has a ‘reasonable suspicion’ that you have pot in your possession.
What does this mean? An officer smells pot, or claims to have smelt pot because this is something that you can have no objective proof of later on. He can search your vehicle. He can arrest you for anything that he finds, even if he does not find any pot. So, basically so long as police officer is willing to claim that he smelt pot from your vehicle we are now subject to random searches of our vehicles at anytime. That sounds like an invasion of privacy, and horribly totalitarian to me.
Also, a general smell of pot in the area of a vehicle does not necessarily mean that anything is illegal is happening in said vehicle. Ever left a house where people were smoking it around you? You smell. Ever walked down the street where someone else was smoking a joint of some rank shit earlier? It smells. Or a house where someone is growing? Sometimes the whole street smells. Too bad, everyone that goes by there now has their vehicle subject to random search. Sometimes I feel like ‘freedom’ is just a concept slipping through my fingers, getting pulverized by sneaky little things like “police discretion.”
Fact #2: You can be convicted of impaired driving, for pot, based on the observations of one police officer. This happened last year in NB. A police officer said that a guy looked stoned and smelled like pot. He also ‘acted stoned,’ aka took a while to look through his wallet etc. He did not commit any traffic violations. The cop searched his car and did not find any pot. He searched the guy driving and didn’t find any pot. The cop didn’t do a blood test, didn’t call anyone else to observe the situation.
I know pot is still illegal… but don’t crimes need PROOF? Since when are drug related offenses a he said/ she said situation? It’s not like there is the word of a victim… I’m sure the alleged weed that no one can find isn’t saying anything.
Does no one else see a problem with this?? WTF?? Oh and the guy convicted in NB appealed. And lost. Because the credibility of the police officer is enough. And we all know that all police officers tell the truth about everything all the time and should be able to search anyone or have them convicted just on their say so. —the pot
This article appears in Nov 4-10, 2010.
ohh waaahhh, the stoner got a ticket for being stoned, boo hoo. shoulda stayed home and pre bought his munchies so he wouldnt have to leave his fotress of solitude or wherever it is the guy smokes his weed!
yep, and they also have the right to shoot to kill if you fuck with them. me, i would personally go with a nice clean headshot. a nice .44 cal. magnum really fucks up your face.
You have nothing to worry about if you have nothing to hide. Besides, what kind of street do you live on that the WHOLE STREET smells like pot?
There will always be those who believe that because they are smarter than those who made the laws and those who enforce them, those laws do not apply to them. And I have zero sympathy for that mindset.
I don’t assume the police are perfect. But that NB case you cite seems a bit contrived to me. Or maybe we’re missing some information about it?
For starters, the guy didn’t commit *any* traffic violations? So how did he get nailed, a spot check? And no fluids test? That seems pretty dubious. And the guy didn’t have a lawyer or what?
On a completely different note:
notsoNTH: “You have nothing to worry about if you have nothing to hide”. That is so retarded. *Everyone* has stuff they’d like to keep private (or semi-private), ranging from their financial situation to their health status/history to their sexual history to their recreational drug & alcohol use.
Keep up that attitude, with knobs like you around it’ll only be a decade or two before it’s legal for employers to administer routine polygraphs at work to find out what you really think about management. But of course *you* have nothing to hide, right?
We live in a police state, you are just realizing this fact?? lol
Realist, I’m pretty sure that notsoNTH was speaking to illegal activity.
If your car smells like pot, no matter what the source, you’re gonna get nailed. There’s a word you should look up: discretion. Dumbass.
A lawyer-bitcher can comment on Fact#1 and #2 and your rights in each case.
But, I’m glad the stoner got pulled over and charged.
Wow, you’re all idiots.
I doubt there’s any proof that mary jane makes you any less of a driver.
…and I’m assuming you’d like to be in the ‘test group’…
Something tells me that’s a good candidate (likely to be turned down) for Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman
http://www.instructables.com/community/Myt…
And this is where the link should have been. Luddites Unite!
Pot should be legal just like booze. The police need to spend more time catching real criminals who pose a threat to our community, not hassling folks who like to burn a few joints on the weekend.
During last Tuesday’s U.S. elections California voters had a chance to vote on Proposition 19, a ballot initiative that would have made marijuana legal for personal use. The measure was defeated, but during the coverage I heard a couple of guys interviewed who admitted to being marijuana users but who also intended to vote “NO” on Prop 19. The reason they gave for opposing the legalization of marijuana in California was that they were drug dealers and didn’t want to see business suffer. While it wouldn’t be wise to base public policy on what a couple of drug dealers think, I think their position on Prop 19 highlights the central paradox of efforts like the U.S. “War on Drugs”. Keeping marijuana illegal simply adds dollars to the bottom line of organized crime and contributes to staggering levels of violence in battles to control the lucrative drug trade.
There has been a concerted effort on the part of social conservatives to treat all drugs (except those pushed by pharmaceutical corporations) the same. They’ve invested a lot of effort in having marijuana branded a ‘gateway drug’ and here in Canada the Conservative government has moved towards harsher penalties for simple possession of small amounts of marijuana, bringing those penalties more in line with those used against individuals dealing and possessing drugs like heroin and cocaine. The Conservatives also don’t seem to be able to make up their minds on whether drug addicts should be treated as patients with a powerful addiction or as criminals who should be punished.
Interestingly, conservative thinker William F. Buckley thought the “War on Drugs” was a terrible waste of public resources to no effect and promoted the idea that various drugs should be legal.
With regard to this particular bitch, the best protection against overzealous law enforcement is a tight lip and a good lawyer.
Failing that, if you happen to BE somebody with political connections, you can beat cocaine possession and drunk driving charges with relative ease.
A couple of my favourites ‘hard luck’ stories:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politi…
http://timestranscript.canadaeast.com/rss/…
smoke in your backyard…it’s okay commander we both are graduates of the university of luddites…go go uol^^
Commandate, so the pushers were against it because it would cut into business, well what about the users who vastly outnumber the pushers. Not to mention all the other socalled blleding hearts and artsy fartsy types in California. It died because people are against it, plain and simple. Remember this was not the first crack at the can.
The stoners couldn’t make it to the poles dude.
Hi Realist, I meant “stuff you don’t want the police to see that you are hiding in your vehicle”. As in, if I got pulled over, the police wouldn’t find a bag of pot, cocaine, unregistered gun, or anything else that would get me into trouble. They’d find, instead, the car owner’s manual, registration/insurance papers, a couple of CD’s with some music on them, and a box of Kleenex. 🙂
Besides, keeping some private information “private” isn’t “hiding stuff from the authorities”.
Bro Tim,
I see your point. Considering all those who would presumably be in favour of legalized pot in California, I am surprised Prop 19 didn’t pass.
But I would hardly have considered the late William F. Buckley a bleeding heart or artsy fartsy type.
I think it is only an historical accident that alcohol use is widespread and legal, although somewhat controlled, and marijuana use is almost as widespread and illegal.
Considering the tremendous cost to societies of alcohol abuse and misuse, it’s a wonder it’s still legal anywhere under any circumstances.
Don’t you find the current state of affairs the least bit odd?
Blah blah blah stop trying to justify your drug habit
CE. I can’t be bothered to find the link right now, but “studies show” that booze is as, if not more harmful (socially and personnaly) than some hard drugs like coke.
or meth. I heard that on CTV.
methinks thou dost protest too much
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xC8eURJZpy0
Fuck Yeah Bill Hicks!
i really *mouse ears* mr. hicks, thanks angel
I think Bill Hicks nailed it. Very funny guy.
You have rights, if any cop wants to search your vehicle, just say ” NOT WITHOUT A WARRANT YOU DON’T “. This way the judge decides what is reasonable cause to search your vehicle before he/she signs the warrant. If you are going to break the law, at least know your rights.
Nerd alert. – From the legal information society of NS
OB said – So, basically so long as police officer is willing to claim that he smelt pot from your vehicle we are now subject to random searches of our vehicles at anytime.
So, basically, yes. Chalk it up as a life lesson.
The police can stop your car for the purpose of carrying out their duties, for example, to give you a speeding ticket or to inspect for a valid safety certificate.
Both the Criminal Code and the Nova Scotia Motor Vehicle Act allow the police to stop a vehicle if they suspect that the driver is impaired.
The Nova Scotia Motor Vehicle Act says you must carry your driver’s licence and vehicle registration, and show them to the police if they ask to see them. You should also be able to show proof of insurance.
The police can search you car if:
•you agree to the search;
•they have a warrant (a piece of paper that gives them power to search) to search your vehicle; or
•they reasonably believe that there are illegal drugs in the vehicle; or
•they reasonably believe that you are illegally carrying firearms, weapons, ammunition or explosives.
The Nova Scotia Liquor Control Act allows the police to search you, or your vehicle, if they suspect that you are carrying liquor illegally.