We need new drug laws that are
enforceable and equal across state lines. First the drugs are putting our kids
at risk and now even the enforcers are putting them at more risk. They are
recruiting kids to be CIs or Confidential Informants putting their lives at
greater risks than enjoying a few bags of pot. These type of Informants were traditionally
mobsters turning each other in to law enforcers. Now college students caught
with a bag of pot are being recruited by law enforcers to join in and reveal
their suppliers. They wear a wire and make undercover drug buys in exchange for
having their charges reduced or dropped altogether. It is a dangerous job
sometimes with tragic consequences. One girl was found dead four town away with
the loose wire still on her body.
It is a time to make big changes
nationally. Pot is now legal in 4 states and the District of Columbia. Yet in places
like North Dakota, where selling even a small amount is a Class A Felony with a
maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, a fine of $20,000 or more or both. Now in North Dakota when they catch someone
who has pot on them they offer them the dangerous job of wearing a wire and
becoming a Confidential Informant to catch other people involved in drug
selling. Should drug users be used as Police? If they do not agree to be an
informant they will be charged with 2 Class A felonies. Sounds like blackmail
to me! So of course most young people take the deal.
They are told not to tell anyone
about the deal. Not a lawyer, a friend not even their parents. No parent would
want their college student to become an Informant since it is a dangerous job
that they have no experience in doing. Young people caught for usually minor
offences should not be Informants. Going undercover is the most dangerous type
of Police work. You cannot expect a kid to do the same trained work as a
undercover cop. In Florida a young college graduate as part of her deal was
sent out as a Confidential Informant to purchase a large amount of drugs from a
alleged dealer. She was even told to pur`
chase a gun from the dealer. Should an average pot head be forced to do
hard core deals? It happened to Rachel Hoffman who in the course of the
transaction of $13,000 given to her by cops to buy a gun, cocaine and ecstasy
lost her. A 20 car back up of Police lost her and her body was found with the
wire still attached to her with 5 bullet holes to her chest in a lake 50 miles
away.
In Tallassee, Florida a lawyer
sued the Police for the family and won a 2 Million dollar settlement. However,
the practice of recruiting Confidential Informants continue. No one is keeping statistics on the number of
people involved, killed, success rate or even if this is making a solid dent in
the drug war. The cops want the sellers, the dopers to turn themselves in. The use of an Informant makes the Cops job infinitely
easier. Without any timely surveillance on their part they instantly get a drug
transaction, evidence and an informant all at once. There could be as many as 100,000 Confidential
Informants working with the police around the country. Police say it is a
voluntary job.
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