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‘These Guys Had to Be Taken Down’
The raid provoked some protest among students who saw it as overly aggressive. Last Wednesday, a mock graduation was staged, with 75 empty chairs to signify those who were kicked out of school for the charges. (Only 75 students had been reported arrested then.) Randy Hencken, a San Diego State graduate student and president of Students for Sensible Drug Policy, which calls for a more lenient policy toward drug use on campus, argues that "arresting 100 people is not going to stop drug use, abuse or overdoses." He urges the university to adopt a "Good Samaritan" policy that would allow students in an overdose situation to call for help without fear of repercussions. "When someone dies of overdose, that moment of hesitation caused by fear of being arrested can be enough to lose someone's life," he says. "I'm not defending what some of these kids were doing, but the truth is, it's easier for an underage student to get cocaine at 3 a.m. than it is to buy alcohol at 11 p.m. We're fooling ourselves if we think that arresting a bunch of kids will stop it."
Authorities say much of the information leading to the arrests of the alleged drug dealers came from people arrested for possession of narcotics. "We were happy to have these minnows as bait to find the bigger fish," says Mosler. He says most of those arrested for small amounts of drugs were fined or sent to counseling; the suspected dealers, on the other hand, could face hard time.
The undercover officers in the sting, who looked young enough to be students, dressed and talked in a way that would make them blend into any crowd around campus, authorities say. They started going to fraternity parties, made some connections and then started appearing at other events near campus. Mosler says the officers were stunned to learn how openly drug dealers were operating. "The undercover officers would call the dealers and say, 'I'm looking to score, can you hook me up?' " the prosecutor says, "and the dealers wouldn't question it; they'd just say yes." Mosler says he believes that the dealers, many of them students, were operating under the false assumption that they would never get caught within the insular world of a college campus.
To be certain, American college students scarcely expect that fraternity parties will be infiltrated by undercover drug officers. Just the same, no one expects a 19-year-old college student with a promising future, like Jenny Poliakoff, to go off to a sorority dance one night and wind up losing her life.
© 2008
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Member Comments
Posted By: ARGOS-PANOPTES @ 05/22/2008 2:18:06 PM
Comment: I'm a Mexican citizen, living in Mexico, and from these postings one reality is very clear to me, one that every other person outside the US knows, that no matter how long and how hard the war against drug traffickers outside the US is carried on, as long as demand and consumption for these drugs is not put into perspective by the American people, each and every drug related death of a law enforcement agent, in any part of the world is completely useless.
We in Mexico are experiencing a war now, unlike any Americans have known on their streets, one that is claiming an average of 20 lives a day, and is disrupting the lives of every single law respecting person in Mexico, and knowing full well that this is caused in great part by the international drug cartels teeming up with local cartels to smuggle the drugs to the US. It???s very easy to criticize the Mexican government however corrupt it may be, for not making enough efforts to stop the traffickers before they get the drugs across the border, with the incredibly enormous costs, both human and economic, that it takes, and then see the US senators debate on putting their money where their mouth is??? footing a part of the bill thru the proposed ???plan merida???, which could help in a large part to equip Mexican forces against the drug cartels. It makes me wonder what would happen in the US if Mexican authorities simply take a more laid back approach to these drugs, like its been proposed on this blog, and not engage drug traffickers on their activities towards the US??? it would be very likely that the war we are know fighting would be transferred to your front yard???and believe me it is not a pretty picture, for your own sake take responsibility for your drug problems as we are trying to take care of our own.
Posted By: ??? ????? @ 05/22/2008 3:53:51 AM
Comment: Actually, THE RAVEN IS in reference to Edgar Allan Poe's Poem, "THE RAVEN". My favorite poem, by the way. No, my skin isn't thin, whitey. But YOURS must be. Why else would you be so bent out of shape when the issue of you rednecks and drugs are bought to the fore-front? Of course, EVERYTHING regarding black people and white people concerns race. What planet have your white A$$ been living on all your life? And MY racism isn't "pent up", either--I have no problem releasing it, whitey!
You crackers are just bugging because the drug offenders are honkies! And if the faces were black, you racist red necks would be spewing all kinds of racist $hit about black people,black men, black women, and the entire "black community"--so shut your dumbass mouth!
And by the way, stupid-- Poe's middle name does not have an "E" any where in it. So it's obvious your ignorant pale face knows nothing about Poe, "THE RAVEN", or anything else you've just posted.
Why is it that when a black person tells you white people how racist you are, or points out your other many vile, genetic flaws--the black person MUST be angry? What's the connection--whitey? Does it REALLY bother you crackers to accept the fact that BLACK PEOPLE DON'T LOVE YOU?
Posted By: book134 @ 05/21/2008 6:04:10 PM
Comment: Burdened by the cost of the highest rate of per-capita incarceration in the world, many States & the Federal government are in the process of releasing large numbers of drug abusers & drug dealers from prison early in order to save money.
The result of course, is that drug abuser will be allowed to return to the streets to resume the criminal activities, (at a cost to countless innocents) that put them in prison in the first place. Many of these people pass on their drugs to others (often children,) who would not ordinarily be inclined to use drugs, and often steal from innocent others in order to feed their habit.
And drug dealers will always find new clients to resume & increase their trade.
This new policy among the States & Federal government to release these people back onto the streets early will increase the drug & crime problem in the US in a big way.