$50 to sell your friends!

[Garbarsardar]

Boulder's Farrand Field is notorious for its 4/20 celebration in which upwards of 3,000 students and marijuana well-wishers gather to celebrate the event. This has left law enforcement in something of a bind: how do you combat an unlawful assembly of over 3,000 people without starting a riot?

This year, their approach was to have a number of undercover operatives in the crowd, posing as stoners but snapping photos left and right. They've now posted these photos online and are offering a $50 reward for anyone who can identify the individuals in the photos. 150 individuals have already been posted, and they claim there will be more to follow. They claim identified individuals will be summoned to appear in court to answer for not only marijuana-related charges but also for tresspassing.

So would you sell your friends for 50 bucks?
Is it your duty as a citizen to assist law enforcement?
What do you think of the ethics of the Colorado police?
Do you sonsider the ones who will go for the reward as snitches? weasels? other animal?

Here is your chance,
7 have been already identified, you should hurry now
Colorado Police Link:
http://www.colorado.edu/police/420_P...%20145_jpg.htm

[Rhah]

Well, we all know how dangerous dope smoking hippies can be. Nowadays, what with the threat of international terrorism and all, you have to viciously prosecute every deviant that you can find.

Of course, this also comes from the Police force who brought you this little story
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_3770815

Anyway, its a pretty underhanded approach to law enforcement, and i'm sure they could find something more useful to do with their time (like tracking satanists etc).
On the other hand, the people that took the $50 have probably just gone and spent it all on more drugs.... Ironically.

[Pallida Mors]

I wouldn't. I might not agree with everything each of my freinds does, but I refuse to be that guy. Even if I could create a scenario where I would, it would require me speaking with my freind(s) about it first. Its different if your a cop, thats your job.

[Armfelt]

I would never snitch on my friends for smoking pot, probably not on my enemies either. And anyone who does would loose my respect.

[internationalist]

That is the most pathetic excuse for "law enforcement" I have ever seen. I mean, yeah, marijuana is against the law, but so what? It doesn't hurt anyone, at best, the police could have made sure no-one was driving (a police run buffet stand would ensure this) after smoking.

[Libertine]

I have no respect for people who grass no pun intended up on their mates for such a small amount of cash.

[Gwendylyn]

Another reason why it's truly idiotic to think you are safe in engaging in illegal behavior because there's a crowd.

The money is reasonable seeing as they are asking for anyone who can identify them - which would include anyone from the mailman to angry coworkers. Friends aren't going to rat out their pot-smoking friends unless they aren't friends to begin with. I don't fully agree with the tactics the police were using, but it'd be utter hypocrisy to stand by and not do something when a mass of 3000 people decide to team up and purposefully break the law every year right in your face. If you are stupid enough to do such a thing you are practically asking to get caught.

As a sidenote, a brief look at the pictures shows that almost all of them are pictures of people in their teens or 20s. I'm rather unsurprised, because older smokers seem generally smart enough to do it in the privacy of their homes, not out in the middle of a field where they can get caught.

[Rhah]

When i used to smoke, back in the day, i was so paranoid that i would NEVER be so stupid as to be caught in the open. Every time a helicopter used to fly over me and my friends, we'd freak out and hide, (preferably under a metal roof) because we thought they had heat sensors that could pick out the cherry of a joint (turns out they actually do have these camera's!!)

What is the significance of the 4/20 thing to Americans anyway? Some sort of national weed day?

[Gwendylyn]

When i used to smoke, back in the day, i was so paranoid

I do believe I've found the problem. The most paranoid the-government-is-watching-us people I know smoke pot, yet they tend to ingore that it's a side effect of the drug.

What is the significance of the 4/20 thing to Americans anyway? Some sort of national weed day?

Yup. 4/20 at 4:20 everyone lights up. I've heard all kinds of theories as to where the number comes from (from the number of a law that never passed to the traditional English tea time), but I still don't know the real reason.

[Rhah]

I do believe I've found the problem. The most paranoid the-government-is-watching-us people I know smoke pot, yet they tend to ingore that it's a side effect of the drug.

I see what you are saying, but i'm still one of those "the-government-is-watching-us" people, and i stopped smoking a few years ago.

As a (sort of) wise man once said: "Just because you're paranoid, doesnt mean they're not after you"

I guess this story proves that, in a way.


*edit*
On the origin of 4/20, from wiki

The commonly accepted theory:
Snopes.com, High Times magazine, The Marijuana-Logues, and The Straight Dope claim that in the early 1970s, a group of teenagers at San Rafael High School in San Rafael, California used to meet every day after school at 4:20 p.m. to smoke marijuana at the Louis Pasteur statue. One piece of evidence supporting an origin of the term from the time 4:20 is the fact that the number is always said "four twenty". This theory is also the most cited, and the most widely accepted.

Alternate theories
The Bob Dylan song "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35" contains the lyrics "everybody must get stoned" prominently throughout the song. Since twelve multiplied by thirty-five equals 420, it has been suggested that this song is the original source of the term 420 in cannabis culture.

Marijuana grew wild on or near Highway 420 in Ontario in the 1960s. However, Highway 420 only gained its current name in 1972. Whether or not this is true, Highway 420 is the location for an annual legalization protest every April 20th.

At some American junior or senior high schools, "after-school detention" ends at 4:20. Thus 4:20 signifies the time when the detainees are finally free to smoke after the school day.

The term could have possibly come from H. P. Lovecraft's "Within The Walls of Eryx" which contains the line, "My route must have been far from straight, for it seemed hours before I was free of the mirage-plant's pervasive influence... When I did get wholly clear I looked at my watch and was astonished to find that the time was only 4:20." This theory for the origin of 4:20 was first postulated on the official website for the rock band Tool.


I somehow knew that Tool would be involved in there somewhere :laughing:

[MoROmeTe]

Nah, dope users stay pretty united... unless they really need money. So, I'd say most people will not do it...

[Garbarsardar]

I do believe I've found the problem. The most paranoid the-government-is-watching-us people I know smoke pot, yet they tend to ingore that it's a side effect of the drug.

I'm sure you are going to produce a peer-reviewed, published study that supports this statement.
:original:

[Libertine]

because at 4.20 everyone is stressed out and work is nearly over...only 40 more minutes of torture left - it makes you want to light up and relax.

[Gwendylyn]

So much for using a smiley to make a joke? I was not making a scientific claim when I said "most people I know". I know better than to generalize about all people based on anecdotal experiences.

Unless you are asking if one of the side effects of marijuana can be increased paranoia, in which case, yes I can, but I'd rather not go searching through studies unless I know that's what you are asking.

[Garbarsardar]

Unless you are asking if one of the side effects of marijuana can be increased paranoia, in which case, yes I can, but I'd rather not go searching through studies unless I know that's what you are asking.

Yep, exactly this.
And for good measure you can use the APA criteria:

Diagnostic criteria for 301.0 Paranoid Personality Disorder


A. A pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:

(1) suspects, without sufficient basis, that others are exploiting, harming, or deceiving him or her
(2) is preoccupied with unjustified doubts about the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends or associates
(3) is reluctant to confide in others because of unwarranted fear that the information will be used maliciously against him or her
(4) reads hidden demeaning or threatening meanings into benign remarks or events
(5) persistently bears grudges, i.e., is unforgiving of insults, injuries, or slights
(6) perceives attacks on his or her character or reputation that are not apparent to others and is quick to react angrily or to counterattack
(7) has recurrent suspicions, without justification, regarding fidelity of spouse or sexual partner

B. Does not occur exclusively during the course of Schizophrenia, a Mood Disorder With Psychotic Features, or another Psychotic Disorder and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a general medical condition.
Note: If criteria are met prior to the onset of Schizophrenia, add "Premorbid," e.g., "Paranoid Personality Disorder (Premorbid)."

Reprinted with permission from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth Edition. Copyright 1994 American Psychiatric Association

[Reidy]

Meh. I'd probably tell them (the friend) that they'd been caught on camera and leave them to do whatever they wish.

What is the punishment for smoking that anyway?

[Gwendylyn]

Yep, exactly this.
And for good measure you can use the APA criteria:

Some subjects developed symptoms resembling those of schizophrenia that lasted approximately one half hour to one hour. These symptoms included suspiciousness, unusual thoughts, paranoia, thought disorder, blunted affect, reduced spontaneity, reduced interaction with the interviewer, and problems with memory and attention.

http://www.yale.edu/opa/newsr/04-06-14-01.all.html

[Garbarsardar]

Let's use the whole quotation now...

Some subjects developed symptoms resembling those of schizophrenia that lasted approximately one half hour to one hour. These symptoms included suspiciousness, unusual thoughts, paranoia, thought disorder, blunted affect, reduced spontaneity, reduced interaction with the interviewer, and problems with memory and attention. THC also induced euphoria and increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol. There were no side effects in the study participants one, three and six months after the study.

I agree. In the half to one hour timeframe there are indications of paranoia that have nothing to do with paranoid disorder.

Not to mention that the dose was intravenal and not inhaled, and that the study was completed by 15 subjects, hence a gold standard for generalisation...

you can read the whole study here:
http://www.nature.com/npp/journal/v2.../1300496a.html

[Gwendylyn]

I agree. In the half to one hour timeframe there are indications of paranoia that have nothing to do with paranoid disorder.

I never said anything about long term, nor did I mean to imply as much either. Neither did I say that smoking marijuana causes a paranoid disorder, only paranoia - the symptom. I was aware of the studies that research mental disorders and smoking habits, but was certainly not referencing them.

In fact, if you want me to get more specific and expound upon my first reference even further, those I know who are heavy pot smokers most often go on their paranoia rants while smoking. Does that settle the idea in your mind that I'm not trying to pass off marijuana as creating mental disorders?

[RazorOutlaw]

Hmm, but wouldn't the people Gwendylyn talks to be continuous users?