Police officers in Minneapolis have made it pretty clear that smoking marijuana is illegal and will not be tolerated. While some may debate the importance of cracking down on drug possession, most Minnesotans would not believe that Minneapolis police would actually give marijuana to people and encourage them to smoke it.
No matter how odd it sounds, that is exactly what some members of the Occupy Minnesota movement are alleging. The accusations have been heard and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety has started an investigation and suspended the Drug Recognition Evaluator program.
At least two people have said that police have approached activists camped out with Occupy Minnesota, given them marijuana and watched their reactions once they were high. Some of the participants have even alleged that some officers bribed them with food or drugs in exchange for becoming an informant. All of the people who say they were given marijuana were part of an exercise to train police on how to recognize individuals that are high.
With such contradictory behavior by police, it calls into question why Minneapolis police are so strict with those accused of drug possession. Until law enforcement presents a firm stance one way or the other on marijuana use and possession, it is important that anyone who is accused of a drug crime contacts a drug possession lawyer in order to protect his or her rights.
The allegations of police involvement in handing out drugs became public after members of Occupy Minnesota released a documentary of law enforcement interactions with members of the movement.
Source: Star Tribune, “Trooper put on leave as probe of drug-training tactics widens,” Eric Roper and Matt McKinney, May 10, 2012
