DEA Raided This Woman's House After She Shopped At A Garden Store

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
Ok. Then where do u grab ahold?
Rescheduling is concrete
The Attorney General unquestionably has the responsibility and authority for Marijuana remaining on the Schedule I narcotic list per Title 21 law of the Drug War they administer. The AG also oversees the billion dollar industry that profits and abuses it: Lawyers, Court Rooms, Police, Prisons ... The AG has a clear conflict of interest here and no right to obstruct in order to abuse the public. Yet we have relied upon the likes of NORML selling us millions of dollars in changes to state laws for the past decade while in the other hand they collect millions more in retainers and legal fees related to this Federal Schedule I scam. The clear reality is a parasitic "business" model hiding under politics, special interests and legalease.

That said, the only way to correct this today is to force Holder to finally request the HHS study he has refused to and that needs to be done through public demand. The law is very clear and only about a page long: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/21/811 We need to understand, talk about and inform others of this reality no one speaks of. But be aware of your foes as they have a lot to lose ...
 

NurseNancy420

Well-Known Member
I have been in contact with this HuffPost reporter and he has expressed interest in providing us some updated info on last years local DEA raids. I'm pretty geeked that our plight as medicinal patients and caregivers may have an opportunity to make the national press :bigjoint:
Seedpac has been Playin with the idea of a deck of cards for the state of mich. Shuette n jones get top honors here. But maybe ole Eric as the joker??
 

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure I have to be wrong for you to also be right. I'd like to think we are both right. My point goes to the more basic constitutional underpinnings of narcotics law in the first place, it being an unreasonable infringement on the activities of free people, provided no one else is harmed.
True, overreach is a problem of the Federal government and it's agents. Although the means to such here are clearly the absurdity of MJs Schedule I classification as a clear resolve is part of the same law being abused.
 

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
Relying on HHS to do the right thing is sketchy.
Fuckin Gestapo SS goons.
IMHE of course.
It's the process of law per the exact same law being abused, there is no other option brother. The "study" is intended to ask and answer the simple questions which make marijuana's placement upon Schedule I the absurdity and miscarriage justice that it is and then correct that.

The following findings are required for drugs to be placed in this schedule:

1. The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
2. The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
3. There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.

The answers are obvious, there is no debate upon this reality as all the propaganda that was used to get us here have all been debunked. It is obvious today that this study is being obstructed for no other reason than hiding the truth as those responsible just keep on keeping on.
 

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
With the recent stepping down of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, we may have an opportunity to finally bring this fact of the matter to the national conscience. We need to find out her replacements thoughts on this HHS study and/or it's failure to be initiated? Sylvia Burwell strikes me as a very competent manager and I have no reason to question her integrity. Regardless, her answer, or even non answer for that matter, would gain this travesty of justice some water cooler time. Any thoughts on how we might place such a question within her upcoming congressional confirmation hearings?
 

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
A petition at whitehouse.gov or where ever it is?
Seedpac would host a drive.. All 12 of us will sign ;)
If I were to pose the question to President Obama, I would caution making it either personal or current. Maybe: Why did President Bill Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno not request a HHS study back in 1996 when California's Medicinal law put the integrity of marijuana's Schedule I Controlled Substance status into question?
 

ttystikk

Well-Known Member
I fear this is all just a tempest in a teapot unless the movement gains real teeth; talk about a Constitutional Convention to reform an obviously uncaring and unresponsive government. Threaten to throw the entire Federal Gov't. under the bus and start over from scratch. After all, they've only been doing it to us American citizens since pot was outlawed in the 1930s.

It worked for equal rights for women, didn't it?
 

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
This corruption of the scheduling law has a resolve built in and a responsible party to act. The clear conflict of interest and ability to obstruct may need to be addressed by congress in the end, but does not rise to a Constitutional Convention.

If I were a betting man, my guess is that it will be the corruption of the tax code that brings on the next Constitutional Convention. K Streets/special interests rely on nothing more, it controls both parties equally and has a cost to every single American. For decades now no politician has denied these facts, every year they all agree reform is necessary publicly as they simply carve out yet more for special interests. A Constitutional Convention does seem the only way to reclaim our government from the special interests and ruling parties that have stolen it so brazenly today.
 

~Dankster~420

Well-Known Member
I myself think they need to leave folks that smoke, and or grow for certain reasons (sickness) the hell alone, better yet target all these "more" harmfully types of drugs such as cocaine, and heroin, pill;s, etc'. God made herb, man made pills. I trust God. ;)
Angela Kirking never thought shopping for garden supplies would lead to agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration waking her up with guns drawn, but that's what happened last October.

"I bought a bottle of organic fertilizer, a 16-ounce bottle," said Kirking, a 46-year-old face-paint artist. "Three weeks later I was raided by DEA."

The DEA is refusing to answer questions about the law enforcement operation targeting an Illinois garden store that has netted Kirking and at least 10 other people. But Kirking and her lawyer contend it's a case of misplaced priorities and federal overreach. They're asking why the DEA is treating ordinary customers of a garden store selling hydroponic equipment as if they were major drug dealers.

The Oct. 11, 2013, raid on Kirking's house, first reported by Patch, involved four DEA agents and five Shorewood, Ill., police officers, according to a police report. Its alleged yield from Kirking's art room, whose entrance is guarded by beads: 9.3 grams of marijuana, or less than one-third of an ounce.

Now Kirking's defense lawyer, former Will County (Ill.) prosecutor Jeff Tomczak, is trying to have the search warrant and the two misdemeanor charges it produced thrown out.

Kirking's visit to the garden store, Midwest Hydroganics, was the predicate for the whole investigation of her, according to Tomczak. "100 percent nothing else," he said, calling that far too thin a thread on which to base a search warrant.

In the search warrant application, a Braidwood, Ill., police officer assigned to the DEA, Donn Kaminski, wrote that he had observed Kirking exit the garden store "carrying a green plastic bag containing unknown items." Kaminski stated he had "previously conducted numerous investigations that involved the surveillance of Midwest Hydroganics and persons purchasing items at Midwest Hydroganics, which has led to the arrest of suspects for production of cannabis sativa plants and production of cannabis."

A man answering the phone at the Midwest Hydroganics store declined to comment on the DEA operation.

Kaminski wrote that he then sifted through Kirking's household trash, detecting "a strong odor of green cannabis" in one plastic trash bag, and compared her home's electrical bill to that of her neighbors, finding that it was higher. Another officer conducted a field test on a green plant stem, which allegedly tested positive for marijuana. That was enough for a judge to sign a warrant.

An application for a search warrant for a different Midwest Hydroganics customer, Tomczak noted, stated that police had found no evidence of marijuana plant residue in the trash -- and suggested that was evidence a suspect was covering up his marijuana grow.

The result in Kirking's case was an early morning raid on her home.

"They were in full attack mode, came at me guns raised, flashlights. Just like you see in the movies," Kirking said. "I had to ask them for a warrant. I said, 'Who are you,' when they came in the bedroom. Somebody said, 'DEA.'"

A spokesman for the Will County State's Attorney described Kirking's case as just one among many resulting from surveillance of the store.

"There are 11 total cases based upon search warrants that were written and charged based upon this type of surveillance in Will County by the DEA," said Charles Pelkie, director of public affairs for the state's attorney's office. "Eleven of those cases are charged, eight have been prosecuted in Will County."

Kirking's alleged marijuana stash was paltry. But Pelkie said other searches have produced more serious amounts. The largest of these in Will County, he said, yielded 120 marijuana plants, 290,510 grams of cannabis and 178 Ecstasy pills. That raid has resulted in one person pleading guilty to a felony.

Pelkie said the Will County State's Attorney makes its decisions on charges when the DEA presents its evidence. He refused to comment on whether targeting a garden store was the best use of the agency's resources.

"With regard to how the DEA conducts its investigations, you really have to refer to them," said Pelkie.

But on that count the federal agency is not being helpful. Special Agent Owen Putman, spokesman for the DEA's Chicago Division, declined via email to comment on the operation targeting Midwest Hydroganics.

The Illinois law enforcement operation seems to follow the same pattern as a two-state operation out of Kansas City, Mo., that also involved the DEA. The effort dubbed "Operation Constant Gardener," led by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, also staked out hydroponic garden stores and eventually arrested 14 people. To maximize publicity, those raids happened on April 20 of 2011 and 2012 -- 4/20, also known as "Weed Day."

After the initial favorable headlines, however, the other side of Operation Constant Gardener came into focus: Innocent gardeners had been harassed, and garden stores saw diminished business.

In the Kansas City suburb of Leawood, Kan., law enforcement agents clad in bulletproof vests and carrying assault rifles raided the home of a couple and their two children. The parents turned out to be former CIA employees. Even after no marijuana was found, police allegedly suggested to Adlynn and Robert Harte that perhaps their 13-year-old son used marijuana.

"These folks have never used drugs at all. They have the cleanest backgrounds ever," said the couple's lawyer, Cheryl Pilate. "They used a SWAT team -- or a bunch of deputies dressed up like SWAT officers using SWAT tactics -- which was totally inappropriate."

Pilate said the couple's ordeal started after the husband went to the hydroponic garden store to buy supplies for an educational indoor vegetable garden he planted with his son. The Hartes are now suing for damages.

In many cases, Pilate argues, the police rely on inaccurate and unreliable field testslike those used to identify alleged traces of marijuana in suspects' trash. Her clientscontend in their lawsuit that the supposed "marijuana" found in their trash was actually discarded tea leaves.

Pilate said police departments are quick to put out press releases when such raids turn up drugs or marijuana plants.

"What you hear about are the people who are charged. You generally don't hear about the people who aren't," said Pilate.

In Illinois, the Will County State's Attorney has so far not answered HuffPost's request for statistics on how many search warrants were executed as part of the Midwest Hydroganics investigation that did not result in prosecutions.

Kirking, the face-paint artist who faces two misdemeanor charges for the small amount of marijuana found in her home, is hopeful the judge in her case will throw out the warrant. She thinks the garden store operation should stop.

"You feel very violated. I mean extremely violated. My husband and I were in shock for days afterwards -- how did this happen?" she said. "It's sad that they are resorting to this method."

HuffPost Readers: Have you encountered problems after shopping at a hydroponic garden store? Contact Matt Sledge by emailing [email protected].
 

TheMan13

Well-Known Member
I myself think they need to leave folks that smoke, and or grow for certain reasons (sickness) the hell alone, better yet target all these "more" harmfully types of drugs such as cocaine, and heroin, pill;s, etc'. God made herb, man made pills. I trust God. ;)
So true brother! The DEA has limited resources and a mandate to fight the real Schedule I controlled substances and the danger they pose to our society. Every large city in this country have multiple open air markets that have provided Crack, Cocaine and Heroin freely to children for generations and are unquestionably the source of any drug epidemic they quote to justify their mere existence, authority, budget, use of force and seizure. How they then justify these stalking of suburban grow shops, homes and citizens is clearly malfeasance. Those open air markets are not only dirty and dangerous, the seizure booty is a joke in comparison to these games they are playing.
 

~Dankster~420

Well-Known Member
RIGHT ON! Seems like their ways of busting people is stalking, and or entrapment. For the life of me I still have trouble understanding what is Soooo wrong with a plant that comes from the earth. I can understand that some of these chemicals used to grow it is harmful to the environment and all, that's another good reason i stick with organic. :)
So true brother! The DEA has limited resources and a mandate to fight the real Schedule I controlled substances and the danger they pose to our society. Every large city in this country have multiple open air markets that have provided Crack, Cocaine and Heroin freely to children for generations and are unquestionably the source of any drug epidemic they quote to justify their mere existence, authority, budget, use of force and seizure. How they then justify these stalking of suburban grow shops, homes and citizens is clearly malfeasance. Those open air markets are not only dirty and dangerous, the seizure booty is a joke in comparison to these games they are playing.
 

slumdog80

Well-Known Member
These are both long articles but, very much worth the read. Check out their website too, especially the clock on the bottom of the home page.
They have a Amazon link where everything you buy through i,t Amazon gives them a kick back.

3,500 Cops Who Want All Drugs to Be Legal
By Roc Morin Jun 9 2013


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“Just so we’re clear,” began Peter Christ during our first phone conversation, “if you look in Webster’s Dictionary at the word hypocrite, you will see a picture of me. I believed that this drug war was a stupid fucking idea even before I became a cop.”

For 20 years Officer Christ patrolled the town of Tonawanda, New York, a community of 80,000 just outside of Buffalo. Retiring from the force in 1989 as a Captain, he founded Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, an organization of 3,500 former officers working towards the legalization of all drugs. I flew into Buffalo to join Peter for a drive around his old precinct and a discussion of drug policy. It was immediately clear which of the many idling cars in front of the arrivals hall was his. The license plate simply read: CHRIST.

We greeted one another and shook hands. “How did you beat all the Christians in the state of New York for that one?” I asked, pointing back towards the vanity plate.

The youthful 66 year old, with his ponytail and gold earring turned up his hands and grinned. “I was a cop,” he offered puckishly.

“OK, fair enough. Let’s talk about drugs.”

“My favorite topic.”

Peter drove as we talked.

“As an officer, what was your experience with the drug war?” I asked.

“I’ll tell you,” Peter began with a voice like a disc jockey - every word played for maximum effect. “By the time I was on the job four years, it became very evident to me that no matter how vigorously I or my brother and sister officers worked, it didn’t make any difference. We would have a series of burglaries or rapes in our community, somebody would arrest the burglar or the rapist, and for a while we wouldn’t have any more of those crimes. But no matter how many drug arrests we made, it didn’t make any difference. Because those people weren’t victims, they were willing participants in an economic transfer. It’s called business.”

“So, what’s your rationale for legalization?”

“Let me ask you, Roc,” he began, pausing dramatically “do you believe we can win the war on drugs?”

I took a breath.

He raised his hand. “Now, before you answer, let’s define what victory means. Nixon never told us what victory would look like when he declared this war, but it’s a war after all and we know how wars end - they end when you defeat the enemy. We won the Second World War. That means that we don’t fight the Germans or the Japanese or the Italians every six months, right? So, I’m gonna say, if we win the war on drugs, we’ve taken the words marijuana and heroin out of the dictionary. The drugs are gone. Let’s move on. Do you believe that is possible?”

“I don’t think so, Peter.”

“Right, and whenever I’m speaking at a Rotary Club or a Lion’s Club, and I ask the same question, not a hand goes up - nobody. I say, then let’s be honest. There will never be a drug-free America. Drugs are always going to be a part of our culture. So, the question becomes: Who do you want to control the marketplace - gangsters, thugs, and terrorists, or licensed businesspeople with regulation and control? That’s the only discussion we can have, and it’s the one we’re not having.”



“So, how did LEAP get started?” I asked.

“The idea for LEAP was based on a little group called Vietnam Veterans Against the War. I remember back in the early 70’s watching those people speak in front of an audience. Whether that audience agreed with their conclusion about the war or not, nobody had the audacity to look at them and say, ‘You don’t understand the problem.’ Back before LEAP, if you were going to have a debate about drug policy, at one podium would be the nun, the judge, or the cop, and at the other podium would be the crazy hippy who’d be saying, ‘Hey man, drugs are cool!’ It’s not hard to figure out where that debate is going to go. Let me give you a little example of how LEAP has changed that debate. If you want to put the current Drug Czar, a guy by the name of Kerlikowske, a former chief of police of Seattle, Washington at one podium… You know who we’re going to put on the other podium? A guy by the name of Norm Stamper, another former chief of police of Seattle, Washington. So, now it isn’t who are you going to believe, the hippy or the cop, but which police chief of Seattle, Washington are you going to believe?”

As we drove, Peter narrated his memories. “See that bridge?”

“Yeah.”

“We had a gunman under there once, shot a bunch of people.”

The conversation caught for just a moment as we both scanned the bridge.

“So how does all of this play at the Rotary Clubs?” I asked. “What’s your conversion rate like?”

“My very first week, I signed up 10 percent of the audience,” he answered. “The next week I signed up 25% and it’s been about the same ever since.”

“What changed?”

“We have these little gold lapel-pin badges that say LEAP on them. They cost us about a nickel apiece. I didn’t have ‘em the first week. The second week, I could say, ‘And if you sign up today, you’ll get one of these little gold lapel-pin badges.’ They like the sparkly stuff. Here, you can see for yourself.”

“Nice. And I notice you’ve got a scale at the center of badge so you can weigh your drugs, huh?”

“Yeah, if you have a mind to!”

“So what reasons do the skeptical 75% give for continuing the war?”

“Oh, they say things like, ‘If you legalize drugs, you’re condoning drug use.’ And I say, ‘No, I am not talking about the drugs. I am talking about the policy.’ If you look back to the alcohol prohibition repeal movement, nobody was defending alcohol. Nobody was saying ‘Oh, it’s really not that bad! It’s got medical uses!’ We learned that alcohol did not create people like Al Capone, prohibition of alcohol created people like Al Capone. And the problems that the Al Capones brought in were greater than the problems we had with the alcohol in the first place. These things we call drug-related shootings - these aren’t drug-related shootings. These are drug-business-related shootings. We are fighting against the flawed policy of prohibiting consensual adult behavior.”

“How does this resonate politically? Are you aligned with any particular party or ideology, for example?”

“You want to know what I really am, Roc? I’m a hardcore Marxist.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Now, just so we’re clear, I’m not talking about Karl. I’m talking about Groucho.”

“I love that. How did somebody like you end up as a cop?”

“I only got into police work for one reason, and that’s because I wanted to save the world from all the evil people… (Laughter) No, that’s not the reason. At 17 years old, I promised myself I would not have to work past my 45th birthday. I had to get some place that had a 20 year retirement. Here is my definition of retirement: I don’t have to put a smile on another person’s face in order to eat.”

“So you wanted your freedom and it just so happened that the best way to get it was to take away other people’s?”

“That’s pretty wise. Well, one of the excuses I like to offer for my bad behavior is, if I was a construction worker, who would be listening to me today?”

“That’s pretty convenient.”

“Yes it is. Now, take a look over at that river. That’s the Niagara River. Between 1920 and 1933, my Great Uncle Walter owned a boat. He lived on that river and on the other side was a heathen country called Canada who had alcohol for sale. Now, my uncle wasn’t a gangster. He was an opportunist - like most of the people in the drug trade today.”

The unremarkable suburbs and strip malls of Tonawanda flowed by, indistinguishable. It looked like any other American town. We pulled up in front of an auto shop.

“I want to see if a good friend of mine is here,” Peter announced.



We strolled in to find a handsome Polish man with a prominent gap between his two front teeth standing behind a counter. “Hey, old timer!” he shouted.

“Hey, Stan!” Peter called out.

We talked Cold War politics for a while – the difference between east and west. Finally, Peter said, “You used to do some smuggling between Poland and Germany, didn’t you Stan? You used to drive back and forth across the border a whole bunch of times.”

“That’s right,” Stan beamed.

“Smuggling what?” I asked.

“Ohh… Auto parts, cigarettes, gold Krugerrands, books, synthetic diamonds, Russian caviar… You could sell them in West Berlin for 10 times the price, but I was doing it almost not for profit! It was all for fun!”



“I think it must have something to do with heightened security after the Boston Bombing,” Peter said to me somewhat improbably. I don’t think he believed it either.
 

slumdog80

Well-Known Member
On the way back to the car, we met a cop in uniform stepping out of his patrol car.

“Do you know who I am?” Peter asked him.

“Mr. Christ, right?” the cop responded.

“That’s right. What’s your name? Schmitt? I used to work with your dad. This guy’s from VICE Magazine. He’s doing a story about LEAP.”

“Hi, officer,” I said, “What do you think about LEAP?”

“Ah, dude,” Officer Schmitt replied, “I can’t give you any opinions about anything right now. Thank you. Sorry. Not trying to be a jerk. If I say something the chief disagrees with…”

“Mr. Schmitt may have a lot of opinions…” Peter started.

“But,” the man interjected, “Officer Schmitt has none,”

The sun was setting as we drove back to Buffalo.

“Do you ever miss being a cop?” I asked.

“There’s an old phrase,” Peter began, “that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. I would change the beginning of that phrase to be: power intoxicates. That was a very intoxicating period of my life. But, there’s one thing I’ve always remembered that kept my sanity during that time. My mother used to say that a fool is a person who, when meeting another human being for the first time, does not first observe the mirror. I was taught that when I walked up to a stranger, the first thing I noticed was my own reflection. I made arrests, and I always got a little flash of the mirror. And it reminded me that I wasn’t in this situation because I was special. I was in this situation because fate happened to be twisted this way, and you could twist it in another way and this guy would be putting the cuffs on me.”
 

slumdog80

Well-Known Member
Tales from a Former Undercover Narc
By Roc Morin Mar 10 2014


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All photos by Roc Morin

Sometimes he was Steven Francis Neill, and sometimes he was Neill Franklin. One was an unemployed junky looking to score on the streets of Baltimore. The other was an undercover narcotics agent.

“Eventually, it became somewhat problematic,” the now retired Neill Franklin (which is his real name) explained. “I felt myself getting lost at times between the two worlds. This is one of the reasons for establishing rigid limitations on how long someone remains undercover. We've left some investigators ‘under’ way too long.”

I met Neill for a tour of his Baltimore, the city he grew up in, policed for 34 years, and left upon retirement. As we cruised through a wasteland of abandoned and burned-out houses, it was easy to see why the 55-year-old had moved to the suburbs. Corner boys glared out from under street signs with names suggesting far more idyllic surroundings—Eden, Crystal, and Spring.

We meandered for the next several hours as I interviewed him about the drug war that he helped to wage and now blames for the ruination of the city he once called home. As the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), Franklin—along with 3,500 other former cops, judges, and district attorneys—is on a crusade to make all drugs legal.

VICE: What was it like growing up here?
Neill Franklin: Back in the 60s, all of these wonderful row homes that you see all boarded up and vacant, they had people in them. In my neighborhood, we had doctors, and teachers, and businessmen. We had all of these positive influences within walking distance, but violence chased them away.

How did the violence start?
The drug trade. No, not so much the drug trade, but policing the drug trade. We always had drugs, but we didn’t always have violence in our streets. Back then, there were major drug organizations in the city that divided up different areas among themselves. “That’s your area, this is ours, and if we have problems, we settle them among ourselves.” Violence was bad for business. When the drug war began, though, we started dismantling those organizations. The vacancies that we created were filled by the sons of the men we sent to prison. The sons fought each other over who would fill those vacancies. They went to the street corners, and gangs started developing, and six organizations turned into 600.

So there’s actually an increase in violence after every drug bust?
Yes, that’s exactly right. There’s also an increase in overdoses. People overdose because their dealer got arrested and they have to go to a new dealer. With their old dealer, he always mixes it the same way, so they know what the potency is. Suddenly, though, they’re buying from this new guy and have no idea how potent it is. Too much and they’re dead. The problems of drug use and addiction are real, but the policies of prohibition don’t get rid of them and end up creating a whole
 

slumdog80

Well-Known Member
bunch of other problems.
Did you consider any of this when you joined the police force?
I had not a clue.



Neill Franklin

What were your convictions at the time?
I really didn’t have a whole lot. I joined pretty much because my older brother did.

Why did you choose narcotics?
It wasn’t like I was on this mission to rid the world of drugs or anything like that. It was just a very exciting thing to do. I noticed there was this shady group of folks who just kept coming in and out of the basement of the police barracks. They were always pulling up in their Cameros, Trans Ams, and Corvettes. I found out that they were narcs—narcotics agents. I put in for a transfer right away, and that was the beginning of my career in drug enforcement.

So what was your fake identity?
My basic character was that of a wealthy kid, no job, kicked out of the house by his father,= but cherished by his mother, with access to cash at times.

Where did your persona come from?
It’s pretty simple. You watch the folks you’re hanging with, take a little from each, and craft a character. I've always been good at emulating others. A natural ability, I guess.

What was your job as a narc?
All you had to do was frequent your local bars, really. You meet people who are doing drugs, and you branch out from there. You arrest those people and turn them into your informants. Then you get more people.

So you weren’t actually going after specific people?
Well, sometimes I was. There was this one guy they wanted me to get at this place called the Duke’s Lounge. The guy’s name was Gant. He never trusted me, from day one. But Nicky and Angelo were two guys I befriended. We flipped them. Then there was Freddy and Ray Charles Brown. I have no idea what happened to them after we made the arrests. It was only later that I realized that the reason they were sending me into that place was because it was a black club and they wanted the black clubs shut down.

So it was racially motivated?
In most cases I don’t think it was. It’s just easier to bust those guys. You give me a squad of narcs and drug dogs, and we’ll go to some affluent white community. I can walk down the streets sniffing cars, do some knock-and-talks, and I assure you we’ll come across some marijuana parties. I guarantee I can come out of there with some drug arrests. But after the first day, after the mayor’s phone rings off the hook—that’s the end of that operation.

As a narc, did you feel sympathy for any of the people you pretended to befriend?
Some of them, I did. These were good people—just like anybody else. I didn’t think that way back then, but these weren’t people out there robbing stores, hurting people.



What did you think back then?
At the time that I started, I really did believe that some of these people were the scum of the earth. Mostly, though, I was just doing the job I was paid to do. I didn’t think that much about it.

Was there anyone in particular who changed your mind?
No one in particular—just as time went on I came to realize why most of the people use the stuff. I thought, why is smoking a joint any different from someone else sucking down Jack Daniels? Eventually, I started learning about why these policies exist. It really boils down to social control: people controlling other people.

How do you mean?
Well, let’s look at how the drug war began, with Richard Nixon. His main headaches were Vietnam War protesters and the civil-rights movement. You can’t throw people in prison for protesting because of freedom of speech, and you can’t throw people in prison for being black. But you can always criminalize what they do. One of Richard Nixon’s closest aides, H. R. Haldeman, said he remembers Nixon saying that blacks were the real problem and we have to figure out a way to deal with them without appearing to. That was right before he started the drug war.

And did Nixon’s plan work?
Well, look—drug use is relatively the same across demographics. Types of drugs might be different. Methods might be different. But enforcement is obviously different. That’s why we have higher incarceration rates of blacks than Latinos and whites. Generally, blacks lack political and financial power, so there’s no one to push back. There’s no one to come to their defense.

What do you think are the effects of those higher incarceration rates?
You want safer communities? Sending people to prison won’t do it. Think about it—if you put a man in prison, you put his whole family in prison too. You’ve just put that family into financial dire straits. Prisons are not institutions of higher learning. They are institutions of corruption, institutions of violence. People come back to their communities worse off than when they went in. They’ve got a record, so they’re unemployable for the most part except for the drug trade. The drug trade will hire you no matter what. It’s a vicious cycle.

How do you respond to critics who say that drugs destroy families too?
The problem for most people is not the drug itself, but the lifestyle that comes along with the drug in an environment of prohibition. In the world of prohibition, the price of these drugs is hyper-inflated. Therefore, I must rob, I must deal, I must do whatever I can to support my addiction.

What changed your mind about drug policy?
It wasn’t until I retired that I really started taking a critical look at what was going on. A friend of mine was working undercover with the FBI in Washington, DC, and he was assassinated, so that shook me up, got me thinking about how these policies create violence.

What happened?
His name was Ed Toatley, and he used to be my partner. He was one of those talented black undercover agents the department farmed out to everybody. Ed was working with the FBI, buying cocaine from a mid-level dealer. He had bought from this guy before and was meeting him again for one last buy. This time though, the guy decided he was going to keep the drugs and the money. He came up to the car, reached in, and shot Ed in the head.
 
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