CU police offer $50 bounty to identify maybe pot smokers.

April 29, 2006 12:03 AM

CU police offer $50 bounty to identify maybe pot smokers.

"Every year on 4/20, students and residents gather on Farrand Field at CU Boulder to defy the authorities and smoke marijuana publicly. This year, the University of Boulder Police Department fought back by taking pictures of as many participants as possible. They have a website with photos up, offering an $50 reward to anyone who positively identifies someone who was photographed." via BoingBoing

Here are 3 local news stories about it: 1, 2, 3. I guess the police want to identify people even if they were not visalby commiting a crime, just so they can bring them in and apply pressure root out the real criminals.

Colorado is home to James Dobson's hyper right-wing Focus on the Family. But Denver and in the west of that state appear to be one of the largest marijuana usage areas in the country (scroll down a bit)

This area seems radically divided. When my family recently visited Colorado Springs we found it very right-wing but when we engaged a rubber boat trip through the Royal George all of our guides were hippie/eco/stoners.

Can anybody explain this in terms of the obvious factions?
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts (96 comments total)

They'll have to prove in court that the people were actually smoking marijuana, and not hand-rolled cigarettes.

Which would be difficult, as long as the people aren’t retarded and admit to it as soon as the cops apply pressure, which many probably will.
posted by delmoi at 12:08 AM on April 29, 2006

Jeebus, police state. I don't even like pot (anymore) but this sucks. Agreed that it would be prohibitively difficult to prove in court. Fight it, young Colorado stoners!
posted by donpedro at 12:13 AM on April 29, 2006

Which is one of the reasons (among many) I enjoy smoking handrolls instead of nasty tasting and expensive domestic manufactured smokes - it adds a nice bit of harmless noise and chaff to cop radar.
posted by loquacious at 12:14 AM on April 29, 2006

I am Spartacus.
posted by three blind mice at 12:14 AM on April 29, 2006

Those "IDENTIFIED" tags are depressing.

Hey, narcofascists? Fuck you!
posted by loquacious at 12:17 AM on April 29, 2006

Pretty cheap price to sell out your fellow students.

Guess my guidance councilor was right when she told me being a narc dosen't pay the bills.
posted by T.D. Strange at 12:22 AM on April 29, 2006

Gosh IANAL, however isn't this close to if not outright defamation of character? Seems like some folks might lose jobs, etc due to the allegations made on those pages.
posted by Mutant at 12:24 AM on April 29, 2006

I... uh... know somebody who was there. Every year students at CU (and local 'Boulder types') gather on the field, smoke, and walk to the Hill to drown their munchies in sub sandwiches. Last year, the police turned the sprinklers on, soaking many joints. This year, they had EVENT STAFF guard the unfenced portion of the field as the clock approached 4:20. But hundreds (thousands?) of people waiting around the field got antsy; around 4:00, everyone ran on all at once, overtaking the small amount of police. Smoking began immediately, culminating around 4:20. At 4:30, people noticed some plain clothes officers walking around with cameras, so they eventually split.

From what I understand, the kids who get identified in the pictures recieve 'punishment' from the Judicial Affairs office. However, when the office adjucated my friends for various retarded misdeeds, they only recieved a slap on the wrist. I fear some kids might lose their government loans, however. CU must appear to take a proactive stance against 'inappropriate behavior', after a long and public football team rape/sexual harrasment scandal "tarnished our reputation". Our student body voted on the SAFER referendum last year:

"SAFER helped CU and CSU students introduce and pass referendums demonstrating their collective opinions that university sanctions for student marijuana use and possession should not exceed university sanctions for student alcohol use and possession. CU and CSU students voted 68-32 and 56-44 in favor of the referendums, respectively."

I guess the strong language of that referendum really had an impact. At least I'm not on that fucking site!
posted by jsteffa at 12:38 AM on April 29, 2006

Obligatory links:
SAFER, Colorado.edu, CU Police
posted by jsteffa at 12:46 AM on April 29, 2006

Can anybody explain this in terms of the obvious factions?

Boulder != Colorado Springs != Denver

When I was in college at CU we had a saying that Boulder is there to balance out Colorado Springs and vice versa. The Springs is as conservative as Boulder is liberal, and both towns look down their noses at each other.

Denver proper is racially mixed and liberal, the Denver suburbs and exurbs white and filled with tract housing.

But here's the thing no one talks about: Boulder, beyond town-n-gown, is actually freakishly conservative. Soldier of Fortune is based there. A friend of mine, a native of Boulder and black, told me that the BPD stopped him one night in front of his parents' house for driving while black. They just didn't believe a black guy belonged in a neighborhood full of 4000 sq ft houses.
posted by dw at 12:51 AM on April 29, 2006

They're smoking pot. On private property. Without permission, and over the express disapproval of the property owner.

Even in Amsterdam, that's not cool.
posted by Brian James at 12:52 AM on April 29, 2006

And calling Focus on the Family hyper-right wing is over the top. Right wing, yes, but they're pretty recent entrants into politics. Dobson has been stepping all over himself trying to be a political force. And I wouldn't call them fundamentalists, either, since they hold to a Christian Right agenda that is full of the bromides of modern American evangelical Christianity. This ain't the freak show that is Pat Robertson. And Dobson has nowhere near the pull on Dubya And Co. that Ted Haggard does.

Hyper-right wing, to me, is Coulter. Or Grover Nordquist. Dobson has no idea what to do with Nordquist. And
posted by dw at 12:59 AM on April 29, 2006

Spidering Facebook for University of Colorado Students + Comparing to police photo album + Riya.com + ??? = Profit!
posted by banished at 1:00 AM on April 29, 2006

What kind of worthless sack of shit would sell their fellow students out for $50?
posted by wakko at 1:07 AM on April 29, 2006

Quick, someone code up an Amazon Mechanical Turk module! We'll make millions thousands hundreds! Just think of all the weed we could buy!
posted by loquacious at 1:07 AM on April 29, 2006

Don't look at me, wakko, I'm not a student.
posted by loquacious at 1:08 AM on April 29, 2006

What's the going rate for an eighth at CU?
posted by pruner at 1:20 AM on April 29, 2006

aahhh...the landed gentry vs. those who are there for the natural beauty of the place. I call it the Lake Tahoe Effect.
it gives everyone there the ability to be scared of someone else there as a direct result of god making it all pretty. ain't life grand?
posted by sexyrobot at 1:30 AM on April 29, 2006

I'd say, as much as I support legalization and different drug regulations, at the moment pot is still illegal, and even in events like this that's a risk you're going to take. They're breaking the law, and some people are working on identifying them. I don't agree with calling in non-smokers though - although they are impossible to identify really, since the pictures don't really identify smokers either. Anyway, I'd say bitchy but within rights.
posted by BlackLeotardFront at 1:52 AM on April 29, 2006

Garden of the Gods late Sixties, notorious, dope score park. Boulder rocks candyass constabularies.
posted by hortense at 2:02 AM on April 29, 2006

There goes the english department.
posted by brundlefly at 2:07 AM on April 29, 2006

Quick, someone code up an Amazon Mechanical Turk module! We'll make millions thousands hundreds! Just think of all the weed we could buy!

Sure, until someone coded a bot that picked GWB as the offender in each picture. Try turning THAT in.
posted by IronLizard at 2:12 AM on April 29, 2006

"About 2,500 people attended the festive event, but police estimated less than half were using the drug."
uhuh, the rest were narcs? or just there for the money, identifying their brothers and sisters?

"A local restaurant gave away sandwiches, while people dressed in costumes and danced to the beat of drums."
now we couldn't have that could we... giving away food is undermining the system..

I'm off to smoke some hash now.. in the middle of the streets o Amsterdam, or on somebody's property.. ltrz
posted by borq at 2:32 AM on April 29, 2006

What's the going rate for an eighth at CU?

If you're thinking what I'm thinking... you could turn yourself in, receive the slap on the wrist, and then use the school's money to buy yourself an eighth. Awesome.
posted by maxreax at 2:39 AM on April 29, 2006

They'll have to prove in court that the people were actually smoking marijuana, and not hand-rolled cigarettes.

Why would they need to prove anything of the sort?

On 4-20-2006 University officials closed Farrand Field from 12 Noon until 5 PM. The field was closed off with barricades, yellow jacketed "event staff" personnel and police officers.

Approximately 40 signs were posted on all sides of the field advising that the field was closed and that video and photographic survellience was going to be used on and around the field that day. A photo of one of the signs is shown to the right.

Those individuals who are pictured below and on additional pages were photographed on the field during the closure hours as posted on the signs.

From the link. These miserable hippies were willfully trespassing after having been warned that they'd be watched, and still decided it would be a great place to commit illegal acts. Throw the book.
posted by kjh at 4:19 AM on April 29, 2006

These miserable hippies were willfully trespassing after having been warned that they'd be watched, and still decided it would be a great place to commit illegal acts. Throw the book.

If we're ever matched in the arena together, kjh, I have to kill you.
posted by three blind mice at 4:24 AM on April 29, 2006

...James Dobson's hyper right-wing Focus on the Family.

...our guides were hippie/eco/stoners.

Can anybody explain this in terms of the obvious factions?

why certainly! you are a naive and clueless sapling who views the world through a "black or white" filter and doesn't yet realize said filter is plastered over his face. thank you for asking!
posted by quonsar at 5:08 AM on April 29, 2006

Those individuals who are pictured below and on additional pages were photographed on the field during the closure hours as posted on the signs.

Does Colorado not require a signed model release before publishing photographs commercially? I would suggest that offering a $50 bounty would qualify as commercial activity, no?
posted by toxic at 5:18 AM on April 29, 2006

quonsar just went black and white on that MonkeySaltedNuts dude.

What?!?
posted by NewBornHippy at 5:27 AM on April 29, 2006

quonsar have special permission to go salt'n'peppa on anybody he damn well pleases ! Expecially when I agree with him, otherwise no.

That's simple
posted by elpapacito at 5:34 AM on April 29, 2006

And on postview, $50 to rat out an allegedly pot smoking individual ? If "identifing" a person that is just apparently smoking something (because there is no proof anything illegal was depicted in the photo) then necessarily proving that pot was smoked in that photo would probably be worth $5000, which may lead to a conviction which is the probable goal of rat-out terror-and-intimidation strategy.

So why isn't $5000 being offered ? First, because it's almost impossible to trace that photo to pot, second because nailing a pot smoker isn't worth $5000, third because if I was the guy getting the $50 I would be scared-as-hell to be identified...if my name pops out , some angry pusher involved in all this scheme will find his way to me and they aren't exactly gentle compassionte people.
posted by elpapacito at 5:50 AM on April 29, 2006

What is really fucked about this is that, under a lot of circumstances, these students would have to report any such disciplinary action by the school on their applications for future professional schools, sensitive jobs, and professional licenses.

The school is basically screwing their own students en masse, making it harder for them to accomplish their goals in the future, over what is, undoubtedly, just a juvenile prank and victimless crime.
posted by jayder at 7:00 AM on April 29, 2006

elpapacito: There is proof of something illegal depicted in the photos. The crime depicted, though, had nothing to do with marijuana - it was trespassing. Look at the sign at the top of the page in the first link - it warns that the field is closed, and anyone caught will be prosecuted for trespassing.

Granted, the trespassing charge is a big fat red herring to try and get gullible, intimidated kids to confess to something more serious, but I'll bet that's the charge they'll pursue as an opening.
posted by deadmessenger at 7:11 AM on April 29, 2006

Participating in something like this just screams idiocy. "Hi, I'm going to go smoke pot in a highly publicized event on private property!" Don't ruin their futures, but for god sakes, smack some sense into them.
posted by Atreides at 7:11 AM on April 29, 2006

Glad to know the police have the time and resources to assign multiple officers to a photography shoot with the ultimate goal of netting a few trespassing potsmokers through third party identification. Such a great example of our tax dollars hard at work.
posted by prostyle at 7:13 AM on April 29, 2006

Smack some sense into them... I guess you could try. It's been tried before. Won't work on all of them thank god.

Private property? Sheesh: it's a closed park. Never trespassed on a closed park? It's a once-a-year public party (did you see the naked guy?) The overreaction is embarrassing and stupid. Yeah, let's go after that dangerous creature: the occasional pot smoker. I'm guessing a lot of the non-pothead variety come out for this because it looks like a nice day (also, stoned girls.)
posted by Wood at 7:24 AM on April 29, 2006

deadmessenger writes " Look at the sign at the top of the page in the first link - it warns that the field is closed, and anyone caught will be prosecuted for trespassing."

I see a picture of a sign and no way to tell when the sign was placed. I see pictures of many people, but no context (except in a few) so I can't really tell when the picture was shot and if it was shot when the person was somewhere else, but I concur that intimidated kids may confess planting a nuclear device in a bathroom.
posted by elpapacito at 7:32 AM on April 29, 2006

I remember similar events on April 20th, when I was in college. The only noticeable side effect was an increase in snack food sales.

People who freak out over pot are more than casually gone. I know I'd rather my kids smoke a little grass on the field, than hit a giant beer bong at Delta Kappa Epsilon.
posted by I Love Tacos at 7:57 AM on April 29, 2006

It's a Colorado Mountain high
I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky
friends around the campfire
and ev'rybody's high...
posted by taosbat at 8:03 AM on April 29, 2006

quonsar have special permission to go salt'n'peppa on anybody he damn well pleases !

AAhhh, PssssT! Push it!! Push it real good!
posted by Balisong at 8:26 AM on April 29, 2006

That's Katie Holmes.

Can I have my 50 bucks now please?
posted by By The Grace of God at 8:38 AM on April 29, 2006

Branding publicly young people as guilty without proof, damaging reputations: I hope that somebody will sue them for a few millions bucks.

But most of all, promoting snitching: shame, shame, shame.

How come nobody at CU knows that shameful conduct from the authorities is worse for their reputation than a few kids smoking pot?
posted by bru at 8:38 AM on April 29, 2006

Names: Thirsty, Spaz, Albino sunburn girl, Scooter, Squirel, Emo, Firebush, Slick, Dr. Who, and Wigga.
Can I just get my reward in confiscated budz plz?
posted by Balisong at 8:43 AM on April 29, 2006

elpapacito: if my name pops out , some angry pusher involved in all this scheme will find his way to me and they aren't exactly gentle compassionte people.

Anyone that believes marijuana "pushers" actually exist has clearly watched 'Reefer Madness' one too many times. Every marijuana dealer I've ever met (especially in CO) has indeed been a gentle compassionate tree-hugging hippy.

And I've met a lot (cough.)
posted by skammer at 9:04 AM on April 29, 2006

[more inside] is your friend. It might be stoned and wanted for tresspassing, but it's still your friend.
posted by goatdog at 9:21 AM on April 29, 2006

skammer: relax duuuuuuude ! As far as I am concerned you may have smoked anything including your momma daisies and be higher then a kite and more outside then a balcony, that STILL wouldn't make somebody selling illegal stuff happy to be somehow involved with law enforcment. Except of course when they sell TO law enforcement :) but that's an entirely different story.
posted by elpapacito at 9:25 AM on April 29, 2006

Fun for MiFis:
1) Look up the name & address of a young church group member in Colorado Springs
2) Call the station using a prepaid calling card
3) Identify one photo
4) Refuse the reward
5) Watch one more incorrect "Identified" sign appear

IANAL but your not actually filing a complaint or signing anything. And you likely don't live in Colorado anyway. OTOH you may actually be helping the cops scare people by adding more "Identified" signs.
posted by jeffburdges at 9:26 AM on April 29, 2006

Maybe next 4/20 they should take all just take a bus to Mexico.

Garden of the Gods late Sixties, notorious dope score park.

I found that out while wandering around the U.S. on foot in late 1976, taking a Bicentennial tour, when I decided to camp in Garden of the Gods. There was this beautiful spot at the end, but I figured it was a little too attractive, and instead hauled my sleeping bag up in the hills somewhere (as I remember) along the NW part of the Palmer Trail.

I was dozing peacefully when suddenly I was awakened by flashing blue, white, and red lights, and megaphone voices shouting, "All right! Come down from there!" Happily, it came from the other end of the Garden, in the rocks exactly where I had decided not to camp. So, after the police cars hauled away their catch and the excitement died down, I could get back to sleep.
posted by LeLiLo at 9:32 AM on April 29, 2006

For what it's worth, Mexican President Vicente Fox is expected to sign into law an act that legalizes cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and other narcotics for "personal use". According to the article on CNN, personal use of peyote (also protected by the law) means being able to carry two pounds (!!) of the stuff around. The mind boggles (perhaps literally?) :-)

Any bets on how this will affect the "War on Drugs"?

Here's the link to the article.
posted by Pachycerianthus at 9:37 AM on April 29, 2006

I found the naked guy!
posted by ninjew at 9:40 AM on April 29, 2006

Start wearing masks. Have some more fun at their expense.
posted by IronWolve at 9:40 AM on April 29, 2006

I think there are a few cages free at GITMO for these young pot-users terrorists. Don Rumsfeld will personally over see their torture. We can extract the identities of all of these young america-haters - lickety-split.
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 9:41 AM on April 29, 2006

They're smoking pot.

Well whoop-de-doo!

On private property.

As opposed to on the village green, or any of those other tracts of common land that haven't been stolen away from free-born citizens by various acts of enclosure...

Without permission, and over the express disapproval of the property owner.

Um. OK, but they do have permission to *be* there, right? Just not to smoke pot there? I guess the land owner is worried about getting tar stains on his trees, or somebody dropping ash on his grass?

Even in Amsterdam, that's not cool.

Not in New Amsterdam perhaps, but if we're talking about that place in the Netherlands -- well, it's hard to imagine anyone giving a flying fuck.

I recall my first visit in 1972 -- before the coffee shop system was finalized, when much of the dealing scene happened in the Vondelpark.

That was private property -- a municipal park -- and nobody had any permission to camp there or to smoke pot there either. The cops thought it was so cool that you'd often catch them taking a hit on a joint that somebody had passed to them.

Now, granted, Amsterdam is a little less liberal than it was in it's heyday, but in reality, people smoking pot in unsanctioned outdoor places really doesn't rate high on their agenda of bad stuff. As always, the sensible pragmatic Dutch recognize that they've got far bigger fish to fry.

So while the locals might get a little teed off if you're skinning up a fatty in their favourite brown cafe, I'm fairly certain that nobody would care in the slightest about people smoking in some nondescript field somewhere.

Try visiting on Queens Day one year. That'll give you an idea of exactly how far the limits of Dutch tolerance can be stretched without breaking.
posted by PeterMcDermott at 10:00 AM on April 29, 2006

Aside from the ganja gonzo for a second...Denver is a nice, affordable multicultural city with lots of city parks and pretty good schools...though increasingly segregated like urban schools everywhere. There are enough arts (and sports) for everyone, but you can have a house and a garden a few miles from downtown and take the bus or your car.

Not as fun as San Francisco or NYC or Chicago, but way less stressful. You can see a lot of stars and the weather is wonderful. Not as cold as most people think.

Now, I wouldn't know about the miles and miles of white suburbs where people drive big cars for miles and miles to get to work and vote for Republicans...but I suppose they are the same everywhere.

This has been a message from the Denver Chamber of Commerce. (Oh, and did I mention the great libraries and pretty good museums/galleries?)
posted by kozad at 10:02 AM on April 29, 2006

I find it interesting that the $50 bounty is just enough to buy a bag of good weed. Or so I've heard.
posted by trbrts at 10:14 AM on April 29, 2006

I am gonna go back to looking for hot stoned coeds now.
posted by cusack at 10:56 AM on April 29, 2006

These miserable hippies

They're more likely to be stoner frat boys buying overpriced pot with daddy's credit card.

Re. obvious factions, CU has had a lot of bad publicity over the past years regarding its reputation as a party (rather than academic) school - voted #1 party school, athletic/football program spending $$$ on booze and strippers to recruit new talent, rapes at frat/football program parties, deaths from alcohol poisoning at hazings, and so on. There's always calls for new brooms to sweep clean, and as CU has just lost another president and now has a temp president, this may be part of a general image boosting attempt (i.e we aren't *all* stoner frat boys buying overpriced pot with daddy's credit card).
posted by carter at 11:12 AM on April 29, 2006

oh no the cops are busting people who are openly breaking the law! WE'RE LIVING IN A POLICE STATE!!!1!11
posted by keswick at 11:22 AM on April 29, 2006

This isn't private property. According to the sign it's owned by the university. It's not like these people were stomping all over Farmer Jones' turnip field, they were in a park closed specifically to create a "wrong" the Uni could discipline.
posted by jaysus chris at 11:52 AM on April 29, 2006

I like how the sign said that "survellience" is in effect. Yeah, I hate when people survelly me.

Also, if you remove the sign you may be referred to the Office of "Judical" Affairs. That would be Judge Judy, I suppose?

We know what we're doing, this is a kollege of hyer lerning.
posted by George_Spiggott at 12:13 PM on April 29, 2006

Why is it when there's some trivial shit like a Warcraft video or someone saying something nice about Bill Gates the website is instantly hacked and taken down but when shit like this happens the site is extra-responsive? Now if we could only get the Colorado police to say "linux is for n00bs" we'd be set.
posted by skallas at 1:12 PM on April 29, 2006

.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 1:28 PM on April 29, 2006

I found the naked guy!

I was gonna say, "How can I identify him if I can't see his wang?"
posted by mrgrimm at 1:33 PM on April 29, 2006

dude, turn on the internets. i'm on!

They'll have to prove in court that the people were actually smoking marijuana, and not hand-rolled cigarettes.

I think the gist is that they shut down "Farrand Field" or whatever it's called, from 12-5pm on 4/20, and these students were "trespassing."

I agree that photographic evidence doesn't seem enough to arrest anyone for illegal drug use... so why the trespassing? Why not smoke the doobs elsewhere on 4/20? Why give the cops what they want? Silly stoners ...
posted by mrgrimm at 1:38 PM on April 29, 2006

"What is really fucked about this is that, under a lot of circumstances, these students would have to report any such disciplinary action by the school on their applications for future professional schools, sensitive jobs, and professional licenses.
"
Maybe next time they'll think about that before wilfully breaking the law in public. Sure, they may love pot and think it's the most wonderful thing on the planet. The fact remains that it's still against the law.
What gets me about a lot of potheads is that they bitch about how pot should be made legal, but they can't be bothered to get off the couch to vote for any pro-marijuana candidates.

Looks like these people simply ignored the posted signs and are now going to have to face consequences for their actions. Perhaps a little personal responsibility is in order.
posted by drstein at 1:54 PM on April 29, 2006

Personal responsibility? In America? BWAHAHAHAHA
posted by keswick at 2:07 PM on April 29, 2006

Hey, it's taken the government five years to even get started prosecuting Ken Lay. Assuming the swiftness and diligence of justice is in proportion to the severity of the crime and the harm done to others, these kids will die of old age before anyone even gets around to arresting them, right?
posted by George_Spiggott at 2:31 PM on April 29, 2006

I grew up in CO, and the conservatism comes from Colorado Springs and the suburbs in Denver. Didn't always used to be like that though... Focus on the Family moved to CO in the 90's from CA. In the process, they brought their pseudo-fascist views and drove up the property values because they were willing to pay whatever price after being used to the CA market.

Some of their highlights: Amendment 2 in 1992 to prevent anti-discrimination ordinances that included homesexuals. Was overturned by the Supreme Court decision Romer v. Evans. I think they also tried to pass city ordinances in Colorado Springs to outlaw pornography.

The worst part about it is, Colorado Springs is home of the Air Force Academy -- so now the Air Force cadets are evangelicals and discriminate against those who are not. The same people that have control of NORAD and nuclear weapons believe that that apocalypse is imminent with the second coming. great.
posted by karson at 2:46 PM on April 29, 2006

it's taken the government five years to even get started prosecuting Ken Lay. Yes but he or his acolytes where paying lawyers and others to stretch it as long as possible , cover up other involvments and generally corrupting the right people in the right places. Steal an apple, go to prison. Steal millions to millions, get a slap on hands and rewards (but gimme some of these millions)

Looks like these people simply ignored the posted signs and are now going to have to face consequences for their actions

Maybe you guys are looking at some other pages, but I only see one warning sign and there isn't any way to know if it was already present when alleged trepassing occoured.

Christ you guys so easily condemn on so flimsy evidence...I wonder what will happen if Intellegence Agency "find" some WMD in some far east count....oh wait ! OH WAIT !
posted by elpapacito at 2:50 PM on April 29, 2006

Good thing they're not in the Texas Air National Guard -- I understand doing drugs there carries severe penalties that will destroy your chances at a career of any note.
posted by George_Spiggott at 3:00 PM on April 29, 2006

@drstein

The fact remains that it's still against the law.
What gets me about a lot of potheads is that they bitch about how pot should be made legal, but they can't be bothered to get off the couch to vote for any pro-marijuana candidates.

the problem is that there isn't any two-party candidate that is pro-marijuana. They're too busy 'not inhaling.'
posted by i_am_a_Jedi at 3:14 PM on April 29, 2006

Civil disobedience is as American as apple pie. It's how this country was founded.
posted by tgyg at 4:09 PM on April 29, 2006

Anti-pot people are total assholes.

I used to live in Boulder and this story makes me literally sick.

I can't believe those asshole cops are wasting $50 bucks a pop to hassle some kids for lighting up.

Boulder is a beautiful town, and back in my day, the cops didn't seem to really care about pot. I used to respect them very much, because they were pretty good at ignoring the triffles and leaning on the trouble makers.

Mainly, the ignorant people are against pot, and the educated people don't care if you smoke it or not.

Colorado Springs is also filled with some of the most closed-minded, stupidest people in the world, which explains why it's a Christian headquarters.

This story makes me really sad. If a CU Boulder cops is reading this, allow me to take this opportunity to remind you that you are one of the filthiest sons of bitches in the world.
posted by rougy at 4:47 PM on April 29, 2006

Waaaaah! It's against the law! It's against the law! Quick, officer, arrest somebody and throw him in jail because it's the only way my tiny withered penis will become erect! Maybe you could club him just a little bit while I pleasure myself because my only joy is watching agents of the state kick the shit out of kids for victimless crimes!

Keswick, drstein: if you're that hot to see seeing pot smokers get arrested, why not join the force and become a narc yourself? Or are you two more like voyeurs? Jesus Christ, what kind of sad fucking life do you have when you're actually all hot and bothered over the idea that police could put kids in jail?
posted by Optimus Chyme at 7:00 PM on April 29, 2006

Just because I'm not dropping to my knees, shaking my fists in the air, gnashing my teeth, rending my garments, and wailing in abject fury at the MAN coming down on some over-privileged college kids doesn't mean I'm some sort of authoritarian nutjob.

If you're gonna participate in civil disobedience, you don't get a get-out-of-jail-free card.
posted by keswick at 9:00 PM on April 29, 2006

You don't "just go to jail." Or pay a fine. Or get community service. You get kicked out of school and lose all federal loans. The state does its best to keep education away from these people to make "users are losers" a state fulfilled prophecy.

Now you have law enforcement using the web to have students rat out on each other for monetary rewards. Now the campus is a divisive environment where the state hands you money to help jail non-violent non-victimizing drug users and kick them out of school.
posted by skallas at 9:10 PM on April 29, 2006

Maybe they shouldn't be so cavalier about pot smoking then? By, you know, smoking it in public? Where there's cops around?

Sorry, still no sympathy here.
posted by keswick at 9:22 PM on April 29, 2006

keswick: Thanks for being pleased with my friends potentially losing their college loans. You insinuated that it's just some 'over-privileged college kids' losing their loans as a result of their civil disobedience. But the privileged kids' parents pay their tuition, not the state. The kids that work hard paying for school get fucked, not the 'rich kids' that, according to you, deserve a punishment that doesn't fit the crime.

Like I said above, the student body passed a referendum to let the administration know we're not pleased with this shit. skillas has it dead right, at least from my perspective.
posted by jsteffa at 9:33 PM on April 29, 2006

Well, the punishment not fitting the crime is according to me. But you still think we deserve it. Might as well send in the National Guard and 'Kent State' our asses.
posted by jsteffa at 9:36 PM on April 29, 2006

Guess what! There's people all over the world who don't get to go to college at all! If your ability to college is predicated on not "sparkin' one," maybe you shouldn't risk getting caught sparkin' a doobie in public! Still. No. Sympathy.
posted by keswick at 9:36 PM on April 29, 2006

keswick: Thanks for being pleased with my friends potentially losing their college loans. You insinuated that it's just some 'over-privileged college kids' losing their loans as a result of their civil disobedience. But the privileged kids' parents pay their tuition, not the state. The kids that work hard paying for school get fucked, not the 'rich kids' that, according to you, deserve a punishment that doesn't fit the crime.

Well, you know what? Too frikkin' bad. They made their choice, and now they need to live with it. And I'm sorry that it's so unfair that the Trust Fund Babies are "getting off" while the middle-class kids are getting screwed. But smoking weed in public is still a crime, and civil disobedience isn't an excuse.

And my BA is from the University of Colorado. My dorm room in Chey-Ho overlooked Farrand Field. And I'm really getting tired of the crap going on on that campus. Of course we had drugs out the wazzoo back in the early 90s. But we weren't running around blazing up fat spliffs in the middle of Farrand. We had these things called ROOMS. And APARTMENTS. Using drugs in public? As gauche as date rape.

And don't think the BPD/CUPD are worse now than they were then. They were. Racist, clueless, and a little trigger-happy. Difference is, they didn't have the technology they have now.
posted by dw at 9:54 PM on April 29, 2006

I was there, and my roommate knows some of the people in those pictures. I think it's pretty crummy to rat them out, personally.
posted by reflection at 10:05 PM on April 29, 2006

The fact remains that it's still against the law.
Amusing that people can exlude thought and be sheep in mind.
posted by IronWolve at 11:18 PM on April 29, 2006

They're more likely to be stoner frat boys buying overpriced pot with daddy's credit card.

K, my dealer doesn't take Visa. I'm going to the wrong guy.
posted by ninjew at 11:40 PM on April 29, 2006

#dw: Hyper-right wing, to me, is Coulter. Or Grover Nordquist. Dobson has no idea what to do with Nordquist. And

dw's comment seems to have been chopped off.

It is a sad day in the US when the "hyper right wing" is those in favor of lynching, assignation, or genocide instead of being disavowed as being crazy.

I can't find anybody on the left wing who is so into "killing the other".

There are hyper left and right wings. But neither should claim the bat-shit insane even though the right seems to be doing so.

But anyway, Dobson (if you discount the murderous right wing) still seem to be at the hyper end.
posted by MonkeySaltedNuts at 12:05 AM on April 30, 2006

dw: So if the RA smells pot coming from your Chey-ho room, then you don't deserve judicial affairs taking the loans away? If the cops see you smoking the joint on your front porch, you're less guilty? Kids smoking pot on Farrand has little to do with CU's tarnished reputation. The crap going on these days has more to do with corrupt administrators and shady sports programs than with streaking stoners.

Of course smoking on the field might get you in trouble, so yeah, it's not the best idea. But like I said, the punishment doesn't fit the crime. I just take offense that you're so willing to say 'throw them to the dogs' for such a minor crime.
posted by jsteffa at 12:12 AM on April 30, 2006

keswick: A quote comes to mind.

"You're not wrong, Walter, you're just an ass hole."
posted by ludwig_van at 6:42 AM on April 30, 2006

Using drugs in public? As gauche as date rape.


What kind of whacked out set of morals does a person have to have to compare smoking weed on a football field to an offense like date rape? DW would you rather your neighbor smoke weed with his friends in public once a year, or take you out to dinner and then physically force sex?
posted by Packy_1962 at 6:58 AM on April 30, 2006

Just because I'm not dropping to my knees, shaking my fists in the air, gnashing my teeth, rending my garments, and wailing in abject fury at the MAN coming down on some over-privileged college kids doesn't mean I'm some sort of authoritarian nutjob.

If you're gonna participate in civil disobedience, you don't get a get-out-of-jail-free card.
posted by keswick at 9:00 PM PST on April 29

The law is stupid. Its enforcement is a waste of money. Enforcing it by proxy through the statues against trespassing is even more stupid and wasteful. Not all laws are just, and not all laws need to be respected.
posted by Optimus Chyme at 8:13 AM on April 30, 2006

I think H.L. Mencken said it best when he said: Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.
posted by dejah420 at 5:57 PM on April 30, 2006

"Mencken was an outspoken defender of freedom of conscience and civil rights, an opponent of persecution and of injustice and of the puritanism and self-righteousness that masks the oppressive impulse."

I need to read more Mencken.

So do the CU Boulder cops.
posted by rougy at 6:23 PM on April 30, 2006

Snitches get stiches.

Oh yeah and Balisong got jokes. That is all.
posted by Divine_Wino at 7:11 PM on April 30, 2006

Looks like it was a windy day.
posted by runkelfinker at 3:46 AM on May 1, 2006

Anybody know what kind of camera marks the pictures like that?
posted by fake at 10:31 PM on May 1, 2006

Using drugs in public? As gauche as date rape.


Yeah, I hate bars too. All those evil rapists drinking in public, for shame! SHAME!

Oh, you meant specific drugs.
posted by wildcrdj at 2:20 PM on May 2, 2006

I heard that keswick once broke the speed limit.

Lets shoot him in the motherfucking face and call it justice.
posted by I Love Tacos at 8:11 PM on May 23, 2006