Marijuana and profiling: Nebraska authorities warn about "drug pipeline" from Colorado
Since the Iowa marijuana-possession arrest of Colorado's Brian Unbehaun last month, we've been exploring the question of whether cars with Colorado plates are being profiled in other states. One reader argues that such incidents take place because Colorado is "surrounded by a lot of shitty states."
Video below.
We cast no aspersions on Nebraska -- but a recent report about a so-called "drug pipeline" from Colorado to the home of the Cornhuskers stands as an example of vastly different standards and anti-pot hysteria.
In "Law Enforcement Battle Drug Pipeline Through Nebraska," from TV 10/11, sister channels based in Lincoln and Grand Island, correspondent Cassie Anderson employs drug-war lexicon, describing a "bitter battle at the border" that started when Colorado's medical marijuana industry began booming and has only escalated since the passage of Amendment 64, which allows adults 21 and over to possess small amounts of weed in the state.
Among the concerns in Nebraska is the quality of the stuff heading east. Anderson says authorities under the direction of folks like Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner, seen above, continue to find low-grade pot in homes and cars -- but they're more concerned about the better stuff coming from Colorado.
"Some of that stays here," Wagner tells Anderson. "It doesn't all go through the state, a lot of it stays here. So we are combating the issue of bringing a higher grade of drug into Nebraska that we normally wouldn't have."
A Nebraska road check.
From there, Anderson chats with Deputy Jason Mayo, who she lauds for his ability to find illicit cannabis. "On back to back nights in December, with a little help from a canine nose, he netted more than twenty pounds of high-grade marijuana, worth about $100,000," she gushes.
But while Mayo reportedly "knows all the hiding places in a car," he admits that top-notch marijuana is easier to find than old-fashioned Mexican brick weed. "The don't want to compact it or mess it up by forcing it down into a small package, so it's really hard to conceal," he points out. "So, you know pretty soon if someone has something. You just open suitcases in the car, because you can't physically put it somewhere else."
The piece's laugh-out-loud moment (or one of them, at least) comes when Anderson mentions other "disturbing" products being found by Nebraska officers during searches -- with an example of a terrifying item being this:
Continue for more about the "drug pipeline" to Nebraska, including the full video.
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