Warning...........Narcotics check point ahead!

Returning from a trip along one of our nation’s most highly trafficked interstates, I-20, I happened across this foreboding sign. I didn’t have any bud on me at the time, but if you’re anything like me, you usually take a few bowls with you on road trips. Almost instinctively, I pulled over.

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I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. They were going to shut down the entire interstate to check for suspicious vehicles and persons, as if crossing into Louisiana were crossing the Mexican border? Bienvenue en Louisiane, indeed.
After snapping a few shots of the sign, I pulled back onto the highway, ready to take additional pictures once I arrived at the checkpoint. However, the checkpoint never surfaced. Now I understand why:

The local sheriff’s office had established the signs as a “ruse” to direct motorists to exit off the highway after viewing the warning of the upcoming DUI/Narcotics checkpoint. In fact, there was no checkpoint further down I-40. Instead, the sheriff set up a checkpoint at the end of the ramp of the first exit available to motorists after the posted signs, an exit not frequently used since no services were offered at the exit.
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Isn’t that some bullshit?
Here’s another quote from the same court case, expressing the court’s distrust of Narcotics Interdiction Checkpoints. The court explains what we already know — how easily these stops can be abused by officers.

A pretextual roadblock has pitfalls that come perilously close to permitting unfettered government intrusion on the privacy interests of all motorists.
We believe that the danger inherent in pretextual roadblocks is the potential for giving police the authority to stop every car on the road, question its driver and passengers under the guise of a legitimate traffic related purpose, and then claim enough reasonable suspicion through, for example, the driver’s expression or answers, to conduct a more thorough search of the stopped individuals and vehicles for drugs with insufficient limitations on police discretion.
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So, if you’re looking to take a trip anytime soon, take heed of the map below and, if you see one of these signs, don’t fucking exit. Want more specifics on these checkpoints? Follow the link over to Barry Cooper’s blog.

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I'd just be pissed cause they slowed me down.... Have enough of that going through AZ and Texas for illegals.

I say that's what you get if you carry the stuff around with you.

 

I think thats freakin genius. If you have drugs, take drugs you are accepting the risk of being caught so it is what it is. Dont get upset that the cops are doing there job in a very effective way....

 

Damn! Texas is a hot spot!

 

That's freak'n AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! LMFAO!!!!!

Good for them.

 

That is pretty funny actually, glad I don't go to Texas looks like they have signs on every exit !!

 

lol thats awesome

 

...everything is bigger in Texas.

 

if this upsets you maybe you should stop transporting drugs!

 

It's funny how people who are doing illegal shit bitch about how unfair getting caught (or in this case potentially getting caught) is. Good for the PoPo.

As far as this giving them the right to stop every vehicle on the roadway. If they want to stop you they can find a legitimate reason as it stands.

 

That's bullshit. So much for land of the free. Instead of going after the real problem drugs, the real life destroyers like heroin and meth, we waste tax dollars and cop hours, and drag out the dogs to catch people with a few grams of dried plant. But I bet you can get your oxycontin and Robitussin through. Fucking neo-prohibitionist police state. Follow the money people. It's all about power and cash.

 

I guess erosion of freedoms is okay with you then?

 

How is that an erosion of freedom? Narcotics are illegal.

 

Well, you can get pissed all you want to, but the courts have ruled it legal.

I'm kinda 50/50 on this, it sure does help crack down on drugs and people who shouldn't be driving. But at the same time, I don't like the fact that they can stop you for no reason and ask for I.D. and everything else.

In this day and age, the Police need all of the advantages to help fight all of the crime we have nowadays.
I'm cool with these stops, if you don't have anything illegal in your car, you have nothing to worry about.
But only cool with it as long as they don't do it too much.

 

Exactly how does wasting our tax dollars incarcerating nonviolent offenders make the world a better place? Something is broken with that logic my friend.

 

they are not making it a better place for all of us by pulling over normal people that smoke a little weed. i know its illegal and i dont smoke it but i really dont think that it should be such a big deal to waste so much time and effort on that. even tho that is a pretty good little trick i must admit

the only thing im really pissed about is why are there none of these on the border of mexico???? come on if you wanna find drugs why dont you go to the source and put away the real bad guys?

 

Oh are they? Might want to check with your doctor on that one.

 

EXACTLY. There's zero logic at work here.

 

OK, non-prescription narcotics are illegal. Is that better, or do I need to list all of the illegal narcotics, perhaps a spreadsheet with columns for illegal and non-illegal, I can highlight things like medicinal marijuana and others that used to be illegal, but you can now get with a prescription. The could be charts and everything!

 

all im saying that if your all over the road or driving erratically or anything crazy like that you should be pulled over. but i think if your doing everything right and not causing any problems and driving on roads paid for by your tax dollars that you should be left alone by the people you pay with your tax dollars so they can spend their time doing something that is really gonna help someone somewhere a little more