cannabisnews.com: Businesses In Idaho Back Drug Searches





Businesses In Idaho Back Drug Searches
Posted by FoM on November 30, 1999 at 18:03:25 PT
By Kelly Teal, Associated Press Writer 
Source: Deseret News 
As drugs siphon thousands of dollars a day from companies across Idaho, hundreds of businessmen in Canyon County have turned to a no-nonsense sheriff for an advantage over the dealers.
Even Sheriff George Nourse admits the tactic is heavy-handed.   "It almost smacks of Gestapoism," he said early on.And the American Civil Liberties Union looks askance, wondering about the constitutional implications.   But employers — and the vast majority of their workers, for that matter — seem to have welcomed the sheriff's deployment of his 11 drug-sniffing dogs into parking lots and workplaces to root out drug users and eventually dealers.   "We just had to resort to this to keep people who have drugs from wanting to work here," said Christy Ramey, assistant production manager for Aluma-Glass Industries Inc.   It was the rank and file who raised the problem of fellow workers allegedly selling drugs on the job. In addition to the random drug searches, the company has instituted mandatory drug testing, and there has only been one complaint about the questionable legality.   "We slowly over the last 90 days were able to weed out a lot of the ones we were suspicious of," Ramsey said.   She maintained that the county's reputation for drug problems seems to have contributed to the difficulty of finding drug-free workers.   And that possibly contributed to Nourse's decision to offer the talents of his dogs on the private property and parking lots of local businesses.   The effort has mostly yielded small drug seizures and misdemeanor arrests. But last month, again at the request of the employer, officers arrested three employees at the Nestle Brands Food Service Co. in Nampa for drug dealing to fellow workers. The dogs then went through the plant and lot, setting the stage for additional arrests.   Manager Gary Bogenreif said numerous employee complaints about the sale and use of drugs in the plant spurred contact with Nourse.   In the last four years, more than 4,700 people have been booked into the county jail on drug charges, and that was without the latest initiative in the war on drugs.   Localized statistics on drug use in the workplace have not been reliably compiled. The U.S. Labor Department estimates more than 10 million workers are drug users who cost employers in Idaho and the other states more than $11 billion annually in lost productivity.   Clinton administration drug czar Barry McCaffrey found in his profile of Idaho that 24 percent of the state's workers have used illegal drugs, although not necessarily now.   But McCaffrey did take note of Nourse's latest anti-drug tactic — one that has been greeted by many businesses with signs declaring "drug dogs welcome."   Amalgamated Sugar Co. negotiated unannounced drug searches into its latest union contract. The initial search turned up nothing but a reminder that in the future timing is important.   "We intruded upon the lunch hour of the people who wanted to get to their lockers and get their food," spokesman Jim Kusterer admitted.Deseret News Published: Tuesday, November 30, 1999
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Comment #6 posted by Sledhead on December 01, 1999 at 11:49:33 PT
Protests, etc.
If anyone would be interested in participating in protests, etc. against the drug testers, I've included a searchable database that will allow you to locate them in your local area. There's also a conference in Washington, DC., on February 24-27,2000 that's described by the drug testers as "the largest in history" that would draw some media attention if protested. Get involved!!!The Idaho Piss Testing Cartel is led by:Wienhoff & Associates, Inc4747 Glenwood, Suite 102Boise, ID  83714Contact: Colleen WienhoffTelephone: 208-376-5600Fax: 208-376-5665Email: wienhoffdrug bigplanet.comWebsite: http://www.WIENHOFFdrug.comMap to Office: http://maps.yahoo.com/py/maps.py?Pyt=Tmap&addr=4747%20Glenwood%2C%20Suite%20102&csz=Boise+ID+83714&Get%07Map=Get+Map                                                   DATIA 2000 - Schedule at a Glancehttp://drugtesting.freeservers.com/datia.htm
Find The Fascist
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Comment #5 posted by FoM on November 30, 1999 at 20:29:10 PT
Get Active! Each In Your Own Way!
Thanks observer.I just want to say that MapInc and all the fine people from the whole organization have been so helpful and kind to me. I think people should get involved with this organization and others too. I'm glad I finally did. They have helped me with serious questions immediately and I sure appreciate it!
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Comment #4 posted by FoM on November 30, 1999 at 20:23:21 PT
National Guard Is Called to Quell Trade- Protest
This isn't related to the drug war but it is very important. I think people are fed up! I am relatively easy going but the news recently has my blood boiling. Check out the protest!Downtown Seattle was placed under curfew, and the National Guard was called in Tuesday after sometimes violent protests by thousands of people forced a postponement of the opening of a major international trade conference. http://www.cannabinoid.com/wwwboard/politics/messages/18716.shtml
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Comment #3 posted by observer on November 30, 1999 at 20:19:32 PT
Ways to Get Active!
DrugSense Activismhttp://www.drugsense.org/active.htmDrug Reform Coordination Network http://www.drcnet.org/see: Operation Smokescreen http://www.marijuananews.com/operation_smokescreen_.htm
new! Marijuana Resistance Movement
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Comment #2 posted by Achene on November 30, 1999 at 20:04:10 PT
Scares me!!
"We slowly over the last 90 days were able to weed out a lot of the ones we were suspicious of" if this phrase doesn't scare you I don't know what will..Achene
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Comment #1 posted by kaptinemo on November 30, 1999 at 18:48:07 PT
What's next? Drive by 'sniffings?"
You see where this is leading, don't you?Routinely, at traffic stops, if a driver is aware of his right to refuse a search if the officer cannot explain why the motorist was stopped, the officer often hurriedly calls in a canine.The handler of said canine sometimes will 'jump' the dog against the car, stating that the dog has detected a 'positive', and that is the excuse used in initiating a search - whether the dog has actually had a positive or or not is a matter of opinion. At that time, the dog's reaction is considered grounds for a search.It started with the FLIR (Infra-Red) scanners being pointed at 'suspicious' houses. Now dogs will be paraded through your neighborhood to catch the errant whiff of cannabis, or anything else. Warrantless searches will be initiated, solely on the dog's supposed reaction. Where will it end? What will it take to stop it? The only way this continual squeeze play on our fast dwindling liberties will be stopped, short of civil war, is for every cannabis user to simply get active. Before it is too late.
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