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San Diego State University involved in gigantic drug bust

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Tideas said:
if the cops really want to, they can bust like 20% of the college population of smoking weed.

They should. All of this drug money is going somehwere
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Actually according to the federal government it's... probably a little more than that considering that 41.5% of people age 18-35 report marijuana use. Although I guess you're technically right since only 22% or so report use in the last year (though the real number is likely higher).
 
ConfusingJazz said:
Maybe there is a reason why they went to San Diego State and not UCLA or Berkley...
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It's so fucking hard to get into those schools... you're not an idiot just because you didn't get into UCLA or Berkley.
 
ShowDog said:
It's so fucking hard to get into those schools... you're not an idiot just because you didn't get into UCLA or Berkley.
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Like those schools are exempt of drug deals anyways. I'd wager that any university in the United States (Perhaps even the world) has this sort of activity going on. The dealers might not be as brazen but it's happening.
 
sonarrat said:
That's the shameful part. The dealers.. fine. They were clearly over the top. But these are college students we're talking about.. people who could theoretically contribute something to the world once they got done partying.
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yea fuck this man. These kids were probably all white. Why the fuck are they getting arrested? That's some bullshit.
 
It seems like people always complain about how the "war on drugs" isn't actually working, but when a big, successful bust like this takes place people seem to side with those involved in the illegal activity.

Makes me kind of think a lot of people have SYMPATHY for drug users.
 
Damn. Congrats to the dealer that tricked out an entire fraternity to do his work.


Two kilograms of cocaine were seized, along with 350 Ecstasy pills, marijuana, psychedelic mushrooms, hash oil, methamphetamine, illicit prescription drugs, several guns and at least $60,000 in cash, authorities said.
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I would like to know how much of that was found at the frats. If those guns were found there then Oh Shit, those kids are gonna pay.
 
Zilch said:
It seems like people always complain about how the "war on drugs" isn't actually working, but when a big, successful bust like this takes place people seem to side with those involved in the illegal activity.

Makes me kind of think a lot of people have SYMPATHY for drug users.
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...in the grand scheme of things, this isn't even a drop in the bucket.
 
Zilch said:
It seems like people always complain about how the "war on drugs" isn't actually working, but when a big, successful bust like this takes place people seem to side with those involved in the illegal activity.

Makes me kind of think a lot of people have SYMPATHY for drug users.
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It doesn't work because the money could be spent on something better. If a person wants to snort coke or fuck a prostitute then I think they should be able to.

Do I feel sympathy for drug users that are busted? Yes, because I don't think drugs should be illegal. This is a double edged sword, however. Do I feel sympathy for drug users when they bottom out and destroy their lives? No, because they made their bed and now they have to sleep in it.
 
ShowDog said:
It's so fucking hard to get into those schools... you're not an idiot just because you didn't get into UCLA or Berkley.
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SDSU is really tough to get into now. Like UCSB before them they're trying to shrug off the "party school" label even though their campus is primo party real estate.
 
I'm pretty sure >65% of the UCSB student body smokes weed at least once per year. Probably ~50% smoke it at least once every two months, and at least a third smoke it regularly. I mean, in my own personal experience, >85% of UCSB students smoke weed at least once a month, but my own numbers are undoubtedly skewed by the crowd I hang out with.

So yeah, I definitely sympathize with the users here. And to be honest, ecstasy shouldn't be illegal either.
 
Absinthe said:
It doesn't work because the money could be spent on something better. If a person wants to snort coke or fuck a prostitute then I think they should be able to.

Do I feel sympathy for drug users that are busted? Yes, because I don't think drugs should be illegal. This is a double edged sword, however. Do I feel sympathy for drug users when they bottom out and destroy their lives? No, because they made their bed and now they have to sleep in it.
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Very, very, very well put.
 
Well, let's see the positive side: at least they didn't get killed like thousands of innocents people who cheerfully are killed by dealers only to some cool guys have fun taking drugs.
 
Green Shinobi said:
I'm pretty sure >65% of the UCSB student body smokes weed at least once per year. Probably ~50% smoke it at least once every two months, and at least a third smoke it regularly. I mean, in my own personal experience, >85% of UCSB students smoke weed at least once a month, but my own numbers are undoubtedly skewed by the crowd I hang out with.

So yeah, I definitely sympathize with the users here. And to be honest, ecstasy shouldn't be illegal either.
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Making up numbers is awesome
 
the idiots in this thread who say that the war of drugs is worthless, and that arresting those dealers and end users arent seeing the big picture.

They arent trying to stop drug usage, which is the big point that the 'lol lets toke up' idiots in this threads are all about; they are trying to cripple the industry. By arresting dealers, they stop the money flow from endusers; that money wont be used to fund more illegal activities, and it will also slow down gang activities.

Those gang activities are serious business. They'll fight to get control of the best spots, they'll kill each other and they'll get regular people caught in the crossfire of their bullshit. This is what the police and the gov is trying to stop. If you can cut the funding to those gangs, you certainly cripple their business, and they'll be less interested in doing business in a certain area, and so on.

This way, we avoid having random shootouts downtown, families being mowed down in restaurant to show who owns the street, and random bullets ending up lodged into the skull of teenagers who happened to walk by.

The war against drugs is about crippling the gang's biggest source of funds
 
Not surprised.

Everyone in the Los Angeles area knows San Diego State is the premier party school in So Cal.
 
shuri said:
the idiots in this thread who say that the war of drugs is worthless, and that arresting those dealers and end users arent seeing the big picture.

They arent trying to stop drug usage, which is the big point that the 'lol lets toke up' idiots in this threads are all about; they are trying to cripple the industry. By arresting dealers, they stop the money flow from endusers; that money wont be used to fund more illegal activities, and it will also slow down gang activities.

Those gang activities are serious business. They'll fight to get control of the best spots, they'll kill each other and they'll get regular people caught in the crossfire of their bullshit. This is what the police and the gov is trying to stop. If you can cut the funding to those gangs, you certainly cripple their business, and they'll be less interested in doing business in a certain area, and so on.

This way, we avoid having random shootouts downtown, families being mowed down in restaurant to show who owns the street, and random bullets ending up lodged into the skull of teenagers who happened to walk by.

The war against drugs is about crippling the gang's biggest source of funds
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The war on drugs is ineffective because drugs stem from poor neighborhoods. When a drug lord is arrested and put behind bars there will be many other young people willing to take his place because of the money often associated with drug dealing. No offense, but you sound incredibly naive. The war on drugs is much like fighting a massive wildfire--you can extinguish problems in one place, but other problems will flame up elsewhere. It's inevitable and neverending.
 
Tamanon said:
Dude, this wasn't even the war on drugs, this was college kids thinking they were invincible. It's good to weed out the morons.
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i don't think you understand.

Under no circumstance should any one in this country EVER be prosecuted for using drugs, and the only reason these kids are SELLING the drugs is because it is. The fact that a single person was arrested in this merits a "fuck the war on drugs."
 
jamesinclair said:
Making up numbers is awesome
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I went to UCSB for 5 years. I met over a thousand people there. The student body is ~17,000. My sample size is easily large enough for me to make the claim that the majority of UCSB students smoke weed at least occasionally.

shuri said:
the idiots in this thread who say that the war of drugs is worthless, and that arresting those dealers and end users arent seeing the big picture.

They arent trying to stop drug usage, which is the big point that the 'lol lets toke up' idiots in this threads are all about; they are trying to cripple the industry. By arresting dealers, they stop the money flow from endusers; that money wont be used to fund more illegal activities, and it will also slow down gang activities.

Those gang activities are serious business. They'll fight to get control of the best spots, they'll kill each other and they'll get regular people caught in the crossfire of their bullshit. This is what the police and the gov is trying to stop. If you can cut the funding to those gangs, you certainly cripple their business, and they'll be less interested in doing business in a certain area, and so on.

This way, we avoid having random shootouts downtown, families being mowed down in restaurant to show who owns the street, and random bullets ending up lodged into the skull of teenagers who happened to walk by.

The war against drugs is about crippling the gang's biggest source of funds
Click to expand...
Same bullshit happened with alcohol during the Prohibition.

The gang violence exists because the drugs are illegal. If they were legal, there would be no violence. You certainly don't see any mass murders occurring for the sake of alcohol distribution these days, do you?
 
Absinthe said:
The war on drugs is ineffective because drugs stem from poor neighborhoods. When a drug lord is arrested and put behind bars there will be many other young people willing to take his place because of the money often associated with drug dealing. No offense, but you sound incredibly naive. The war on drugs is much like fighting a massive wildfire--you can extinguish problems in one place, but other problems will flame up elsewhere. It's inevitable and neverending.
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You pretty much handled that post the way I would have.

There is no "winning" the war on drugs. It is a lost cause and has been since the day it started. It's a monumental waste of money that goes into stopping substances that are, by and large, no more harmful than many legal products that people are using on a daily basis.

Amir0x said:
i don't think you understand.

Under no circumstance should any one in this country EVER be prosecuted for using drugs, and the only reason these kids are SELLING the drugs is because it is. The fact that a single person was arrested in this merits a "fuck the war on drugs."
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I generally agree but with a few exceptions. There are certain drugs that you just can't function normally on; things like crack and crystal meth transform people into criminals overnight. People who smoke weed and drop ecstasy can hold jobs and be productive without beating/stealing/killing to fund their habit.
 
Amir0x said:
i don't think you understand.

Under no circumstance should any one in this country EVER be prosecuted for using drugs, and the only reason these kids are SELLING the drugs is because it is. The fact that a single person was arrested in this merits a "fuck the war on drugs."
Click to expand...

Jesus christ, what kind of fantasy drug haven do you want to live in
 
funkmastergeneral said:
Jesus christ, what kind of fantasy drug haven do you want to live in
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I thought i was pretty clear that i want every fucking currently illegal drug to be legal. It's not so much a "drug haven" as a very fundamental philosophical difference with many people: I believe you should be allowed to do whatever the fuck you want to the only body you're ever given, provided it does not impact other people. And when it does impact other people, you prosecute the individual not the whole.

Simple, clear philosophical and political leanings which have less to do with my love of drugs than with the level of respect i have for what someone should be allowed to do as an adult.
 
so these people were idiots.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080508/D90H8NQG0.html

SAN DIEGO (AP) - Undercover agents who posed as college students to bust more than 100 suspected drug dealers at San Diego State University never had to crack a book to gain acceptance on campus. All it took was cash.

The federal agents went to one or two parties but never actually went to class or lived in the dorms. Instead, they merely arranged meetings with suspected dealers and asked about buying cocaine, Ecstasy, methamphetamine, marijuana and other drugs, authorities said Wednesday.

"All it took was saying, 'Hey, I go to State, can you hook me up?'" said San Diego County prosecutor Damon Mosler. "And then it was off to the races."

The day after the drug sweep landed members of three fraternities in jail and led to the suspension of six frats, investigators revealed how easy it was to penetrate the university's drug culture.

Students who had gotten caught for fighting, drinking, minor drug offenses or other crimes quickly turned informants and used text messages to introduce their drug dealers to undercover agents. Dealers made handoffs in front of dorms, in parking lots or behind frat houses, sometimes in broad daylight in full view of surveillance cameras.

They apparently made little effort to launder their spoils. One fraternity brother arrested Tuesday drove his Lexus directly from a $400 cocaine sale on campus to a nearby bank, where he deposited the cash, according to court papers.

That came as a surprise to agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration, who were used to being thoroughly screened by dealers scared of being arrested.

"They never gave any thought that we could be doing an operation there," said Eileen Zeidler, a spokeswoman for the DEA office in San Diego.

At least 75 people arrested during the five-month sting were San Diego State students, and 13 of them were from seven fraternities. All together, there were 128 arrests, 61 on Tuesday. Theta Chi had the highest number of students arrested, with five.

Campus police started the probe a year ago after the cocaine overdose death of a freshman sorority member, but they soon called in federal agents to provide fresh faces on campus and supply the money needed to make drug buys.

That was a major departure from the arms'-length relationship that has existed between colleges and police since the 1960s. For decades, police in many communities have largely turned a blind eye to drugs on campus.

The DEA had been on campus at San Diego State before, to help investigate a student suspected of cooking methamphetamine for his own use in a campus chemistry lab, and campus police said they cooperated with the FBI after receiving a hoax threat in the wake of last year's Virginia Tech shootings. Yet the invitation to federal authorities was unusual because it involved an open-ended investigation that didn't involve a violent crime.

"In general, universities are pretty jealous of their prerogatives and are uneasy about welcoming outside authorities onto campus," said Todd Gitlin, a professor of journalism and sociology at Columbia University,a former student radical and a leading authority on the '60s counterculture. "There's a real reluctance at universities to call on outside police."

University President Stephen Weber defended the decision to bring federal authorities onto campus.

"Some have asked what we think this publicity has done for SDSU's reputation. I have told them I am proud of the action taken by SDSU to proactively address this serious threat to our students," Weber said in a statement Wednesday. "As a parent I would want my son or daughter to attend a university committed to providing the safest possible environment."

Some students and parents complained that the bust was heavy-handed.

Danielle Patterson, a sophomore sorority member, said she was awake cramming for finals when agents raided an apartment behind her building, pounding on doors and marching boys down the block to the college arena, where they were questioned.

"I never thought something like that would happen here," she said. "To think they think drugs are such a big issue here, it's ridiculous."

Parents joined students at a campus rally Wednesday calling for more drug-abuse treatment instead of tougher enforcement.

"This heavy hand coming down is not going to change drug use on campus," said Gretchen Burns-Bergman, whose son is a month away from graduating. "There's not going to be a shortage of drugs on campus."

During the investigation, agents quickly worked their way to Fraternity Row, where the main target was Theta Chi. They discovered six of its members were operating a sophisticated drug business, with younger "apprentice" members accompanying older members to drug deals in order to learn how the business was run, authorities say.

The ringleader, a 19-year-old, brazenly sent out text messages advertising weekend blowout sales on cocaine, authorities say. Apart from that, however, the fraternity did little to attract attention. In fact, it was known for having a no-alcohol policy at its rundown gray house.

"Theta Chi did not have that reputation, nothing that would have led us to suspect they were the primary purveyors," said Lt. Lamine Secka of the campus police.

One informant told investigators the profits from drug sales were being plowed back into the fraternity's operating budget, according to prosecutors.

The university's fraternities and sororities have about 3,000 members, but they play an outsized role in campus life at the 34,000-student school.

A lawyer for one student arrested last week with about $15,000 worth of cocaine and marijuana did not immediately return a call. The names of the lawyers for some of other defendants could not immediately be learned.

---
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