Determining sobriety or intoxication is an important part of law enforcement as it can dictate how things escalate, or whether someone’s life gets ruined. Hence, the Seattle Police Department in Washington state has launched a program that trains them better to perform sobriety tests on those who drive-– by letting people do drugs and get high in front of them, legally.
The program and announcement came from Seattle’s local directories website, sent by the Southwest Precinct. The Seattle police or SPD Training Unit will conduct a DUI Green Lab (driving under the influence) on May 9th. For that matter, they need volunteers who will ingest marijuana right in front of police officers. The officers will then practice Standard Field Sobriety Tests on the intoxicated volunteers.
To make it more appealing for the volunteers, it’s up to them how they ingest the marijuana, whether through smoking, edibles, tea, or other methods. Sadly, the product will have to be provided by the volunteers, and volunteers would also have to be aged 21 or above. Once the volunteers get high, the officers will then observe them and their impairment changes.
“This is a great opportunity for Officers to learn from consumers in a controlled environment, and for the volunteers to learn about their own tolerances, and learn about the testing process for DUIs.
The Officer will observe how the volunteer’s impairment changes over time and the Officer will run some basic tests on the volunteer, to simulate DUI testing,” explains Jennifer Satterwhite of the Seattle Southwest Precinct, thanks to Bellevue Seattle for the transcript.
While the police ask volunteers to bring their own weed, they compromised by providing free food for the marijuana volunteers– presumably after the test. Additionally, the police will be providing transportation and have advised the volunteers not to drive to the location, lest they potentially become a DUI case themselves.
It’s not clear what the Seattle police plan to do with the personal information provided by the volunteers once the tests are over. There’s also no mention of compensation or reimbursement for expenses shouldered by the volunteers.
People are Suspicious
Entrapment operations are not uncommon for the police force, so some reactions to the Seattle police announcement are one of suspicion or humorous caution. However, it appears the police operation is legitimate, and they really only want to train their officers. It’s worth noting that recreational marijuana is legal in Washington state, but not while driving, of course.
Some of the more extreme reactions to the Seattle police tests have jokingly pointed out that the stunt could be a sting operation and a creative way to deport volunteers to El Salvador. Additionally, due to the reputation of police all over the US, regular citizens are not exactly keen on assisting law enforcement, even in training and lab tests like these. The general sentiment towards the Seattle Police Department’s DUI exercise is that it’s not worth it.
“Finding creative ways to deport you to El Salvador I see. ‘Oh look a drug addicted criminal. We don’t want him in our country.’ Nice try Gestapo 2.0,” suggests Redditor wilma_dikfit2416
“I would rather bite off my own thumbs than do anything that helps the police do anything,” says Redditor ForcedEntry420
“So, get high in a room full of face eating leopards? I’m good. Thanks,” rejects Redditor GarleGoyle
