Saturday, April 26, 2008

Normal, Illinois (updated) Last night -- just a typical Friday night college party in Normal, Illinois, with the police using knives to break into bedrooms without a warrant. They conducted a 3-hour search, but no drugs were found. I'm particularly fond of the officer's gracious reply -- "Shut up!" -- after the student respectfully calls him "sir." The video is in one of the back bedrooms. The report I heard was that the entry into the main apartment was also forced despite denial of consent. Note: I was not there, so if the Normal PD would like to provide their own explanation or more information, I'm listening. Update: The residents have confirmed that the police did not have a warrant. They have approached the Normal PD office and were told that since they didn't have any footage of the police illegally entering the main portion of the apartment that it's simply their word against the cops' and they have no case against the police. I've been told by one source that once the police were in the apartment, they had the right to break into the bedrooms for "safety" reasons, but I don't know enough about the specific laws there. Regardless of the technicalities of the law (and I still believe that the police have broken it dramatically), there is a matter of showing respect to the citizens whom you are supposed to protect and serve. 7:11:49 PM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []

We want our 'role models' to lie Link (Via Baylen) The next big scandal in sports comes from a statement made on radio by Dallas Mavericks forward Josh Howard. Howard explains: "What I was stating was just [in response to] a random question he asked me about the marijuana use. I just let him know that most of the players in the league use marijuana and I have and do partake in smoking weed in the offseason sometimes and that's my personal choice and my personal opinion. But I don't think that's stopping me from doing my job." He's not using marijuana during the season, and he hasn't flunked any drug tests. So now the league and the press are scrambling to find how you punish someone for... um... telling the truth. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said before Friday's game against the Hornets that any punishment from the club will be meted out "internally." "We won't make it public," Cuban said. "But we'll deal with it. "We'll do what we need to do and deal with it internally and then that's it." What really bugs them is that he is matter-of-fact and unrepentant about it. 10:37:18 AM |  drug policy | Links | permalink | comment []