IT'S LEGAL BECAUSE IT'S PHONY

The practice of cops using fake narcotics-checkpoint signs to fool
drug dealers and users into dumping stashes or taking some other
action that warrants arrest seems a little underhanded, but the
Colorado Court of Appeals says it's legal. The courts have previously
ruled that it's unconstitutional to have real drug checkpoints on the
grounds that they would be a form of unreasonable search and seizure,
so this ruse seems on the thin edge of the ice. On the other hand, the
courts have upheld lying to crooks in certain circumstances. Sting
operations would be impossible without some measure of deceit.

Dolores County sheriff's deputies used signs reading "Narcotics
Checkpoint, One Mile Ahead" and "Narcotics Canine Ahead" in their
attempt to deter drug use and drug dealing at the Telluride Bluegrass
Festival. Officers watched to see if anybody turned around suddenly,
tossed drugs and paraphernalia from their cars, or did anything that
showed probable cause that a crime had been committed.

The case involved a man pulled over for littering, which is an
offense. A search of the car yielded a marijuana pipe and psilocybin
mushrooms. The man was convicted of possessing drug
paraphernalia.

Although some Coloradans believe certain illegal drugs should be
decriminalized, the fact is, those substances are banned under current
state and federal law. Unless and until those laws are changed, people
who use or possess those drugs are lawbreakers. Those dumb enough to
be fooled by phony signs are in some measure worthy of their fate.

On a more practical level, though, a person who's driving and under
the influence of drugs may be just as dangerous as somebody who's
drunk. So if a dope bust gets such people off the roads, well and good.

Curiously, sobriety checkpoints are constitutional: Driving is a
privilege, not a right, and a driver who refuses a Breathalyzer test
can lose his or her license. So it would seem less contentious to set
up sobriety checkpoints where officers also might watch for signs of
drug use. And it might be a less devious way of getting dangerous
people off the road.