Ex-Cop Gives Tips On How To Hide Drugs

Former Texas Drug Cop Makes Video Titled 'Never Get Busted Again'

(AP)  A one-time Texas drug agent described by his former boss as perhaps the best narcotics officer in the country plans to market a how-to video on concealing drugs and fooling police.

Barry Cooper, who has worked for small police departments in East Texas, plans to launch a Web site next week where he will sell his video, "Never Get Busted Again," the Tyler Morning Telegraph reported in its online edition Thursday.

A promotional video says Cooper will show viewers how to "conceal their stash," "avoid narcotics profiling" and "fool canines every time."

Cooper, who said he favors the legalization of marijuana, made the video in part because he believes the nation's fight against drugs is a waste of resources. Busting marijuana users fills up prisons with nonviolent offenders, he said.

"My main motivation in all of this is to teach Americans their civil liberties and what drives me in this is injustice and unfairness in our system," Cooper told the newspaper.

Cooper said his Web site should be operating by Tuesday.

As a drug officer, Cooper said, he made more than 800 drug arrests and seized more than 50 vehicles and $500,000 in cash and assets.

"He was even better than he says he was," said Tom Finley, Cooper's former boss on a West Texas drug task force and now a private investigator in Midland. "He was probably the best narcotics officer in the state and maybe the country during his time with the task force."

News of the video has angered authorities, including Richard Sanders, an agent with the Tyler Drug Enforcement Agency. Sanders said he plans to investigate whether the video violates any laws.

"It outrages me personally as I'm sure it does any officer that has sworn an oath to uphold the laws of this state, and nation," Sanders said. "It is clear that his whole deal is to make money and he has found some sort of scheme, but for him to go to the dark side and do this is infuriating."

Smith County Deputy Constable Mark Waters, a narcotics officer, said the video is insulting to law enforcement officials.

"This is a slap in the face to all that we do to uphold the laws and keep the public safe," he said.

[hsmagst]

To r_bayless: Pot smoking does directly affect others....it may not be as sudden as a murder or robbery but it does effect eventually. Stoners aren't smart enough to "only" do it in the confines of their home....they have to use in places where it effects others, like at a concert. I don't smoke but sure get exposed to it when I do go to one. And as a manager for a large aerospace company, I had to deal with the jerks that thought it was ok to go to lunch and come back loaded. And they were worthless the rest of the shift. The company I worked for had a program to rehab the stoners and drunks and it cost over $10,000 each time, we had to give them 3 chances and you know what.....less than 10% ever stayed clean. So we ended up putting up with their lack of production, carried all their benefits AND spent $30,000 before we could fire them. Stoners and drunks are worthless to a society that wants to be productive. As for the Netherlands, its not the stoners that are producing the software......its the intellectual segment that is having to pay for the societal costs for the druggies. Do you really think people like Bill Gates are allowing programmers to kick back, put their heels on their desk and light up? I'm betting he knows the liability he would be under and does what he can to prevent it. Just as he would someone drinking on the job.

[intn1]

r_bayless

I agree, people have to fight back against laws that they deem immoral/illogical. It's what makes the country work; free speech. I guess what annys me most is that it's an ex cop who swore to serve and protect. On the other hand, I go to school with potheads who haven't been caught yet. They don't need a website to help them, they are perfectly cabable of hiding their weed. But still, this cop is giving all the good cops a bad name.

[olgreyghost]

r_bayless:

"Don't let the stereotypes dictate your decision making."

As a proud Libertarian Redneck, I could take great offense at your use of the term "redneck" in the derogatory inference that you used it in but I won't. :)

[olgreyghost]

hsmagst:

"Do we really need businesses to start paying for more rehab...(?)"

Read my last post more carefully. The answer is an emphatic "NO!"

"I still say as a society, we do not need to legalize another "societal abuse" just in the name of freedom."

Societal abuse is legal. We call it the "War on (some)Drugs." :)

The proper term for recreational drugs is to "decriminalize" since they were legal once before. And we are a society based on individual liberty and it is the position of government to prove it has a valid case before it can restrict that freedom and that case is not made when some intoxicants and medications which can and are abused are legal and others are not. Those who read my postings here at CBS or any of my other works out there in cyberspace should know if I am consistent on anything it is Liberty, first and always.

[kailumego1]

Now you understand why some folks cry police corruption, I'm not surprise, this is America, the "free market system", where individuals can live the American dream of being "rich, amoral, and corrupted".

It just makes me wonder, actually, how good was he, as one of the best narcotics officier in the country, obvious they had little expectations, or his comrades were just as corrupt as he.

[intn1]

Who cares whether or not pot should be legal, this ex-cop is wrong. He swore to uphold the laws of the nation, and he pretty much went in and learned how cops work, and is now telling people how to get away with doing things illegally. Hmm...Sounds like he was pretty much a spy to the junkies.

[mitch0927]

The richest person in the world was stoned most of the time while designing the operating system you are probable using right now.

[hsmagst]

To OlGreyGhost: Of course it will never go away but prohibitive laws do help deter some people from getting involved. Think of what our society would be like if murder were not outlawed. Or if robbery were not outlawed. People would be afraid to walk the streets or sleep in their houses. YOu will never prevent that segment of society that wants to go against what is best for all from doing so. I just don't think we need to legalize another substance that can be abused and make it easier to get. Even if it does put money in the governments coffers. Look at the societies that do not enforce any laws against pot, such as the Neatherlands, and see what a blight it is on their society. When was the last time you heard of some great invention or discovery coming from those countries that benefited the world. Stoners are seldom the cream of the crop and having known a few, they are also the least productive members of our society and cause a lot of problems for the firms and businesses that employ them. Do we really need businesses to start paying for more rehab for users so they can pass their next drug test....after all, its only about $10,000 a pop....and of course we all know that once clean, they never go back to using. I still say as a society, we do not need to legalize another "societal abuse" just in the name of freedom.

[ronaldstark]

OlGreyGhost has just typed one of the most intelligent posts to this subject. Everyone should carefully read his post.

[olgreyghost]

hsmagst:

Outlawing something doesn't make it go away as marijuana and other recreational drugs are already out there and it is sometimes the fact that they are prohibited by law that causes some people most of the problems they have from using them. All the legal forms of intoxicants and even medications have their effects on a person capabilities to perform their duties to themselves, their families, and society as a whole so the whole blame cannot be put at the foot of the one.

If someone causes direct measurable loss to another then that person can be punished or otherwise forced to compensate their victim(s). But you make the valid point of how we are by the force of government impelled to support our neighbor and his habit. I say that if our neighbor has the right to do with his body as he will, then we have the right to sit back and let nature take its course and nature is a very cruel self-correcting closed system. As for those who depend on the self-injured party, they will learn in good time to not depend on that party and go elsewhere...

[ronaldstark]

xenalily,
You don't see the connection between alcohol and cocaine? Why do you think our president did cocaine. Once you get really drunk if you do cocaine it levels you out and counteracts the downer. If you honestly believe cocaine isnt rampant in the bars than you are living in a fantasy world. Anybody else out there going to back me up on this one?

All you anti-pot liberals make me sick.
and super cop...what a genius that guy is.
America has gone to hell in a bucket because of people like you. People that can't ever see two sides of the story. MY way or the highway types.

[hsmagst]

To td1138td: Yes it is my business and every other citizen when innocent people are hurt, maimed, killed. When loaded persons neglect their kids, miss work, get hurt and then expect the rest of us to subsidize their medical bills and cut them from their car, treat their injuries, support their kids, counsel their family and all the other things society has to pay for. We do not, as a nation, need another drug of choice out there for some idiot that can't do without to use......society has way too many problems without adding another.

[td1138]

It outrages me everytime I hear of more of my money being wasted to prosecute and incarcerate otherwise law-abiding citizens because they use a relatively harmless substance like marijuana. A substance, by the way, far less harmful than alcohol, which is perfectly legal.

Do we need a drug like marijuana to be legal again? Not the point and not your business. I have the right to use whatever substance I want, whether recreationally or medically. And law enforcement should spend their time going after REAL criminals.

[td1138]

It outrages me everytime I hear of more of my money being wasted to prosecute and incarcerate otherwise law-abiding citizens because they use a relatively harmless substance like marijuana. A substance, by the way, far less harmful than alcohol, which is perfectly legal.

Do we need a drug like marijuana to be legal again? Not the point and not your business. I have the right to use whatever substance I want, whether recreationally or medically. And law enforcement should spend their time going after REAL criminals.

[olgreyghost]

I had a similar problem with a local chief of police when I offered to teach defensive tactics and techniques to a group of teenagers. He just wouldn't allow it. Why? Because they might use the techniques to protect themselves from his police officers, of which I was one. Go figure...

There's nothing new to figuring out a way to hide things from the police so this fellow isn't giving away classified secrets so he is really just making a political statement to which I agree. The police have enough violent crime where people are getting hurt and killed to worry about and people getting intoxicated on a different substance from their neighbors shouldn't even be on the list.

People driving while intoxicated is a different but related subject but it doesn't matter what intoxicant they use but that they get behind the wheel and we need to do something to stop that before they get stopped the hard way.

[hsmagst]

To blahblahbla5: While in principle I agree with you, that what you do in your house is your business, most users don't confine their use to their house. They do it while driving down the road, in concerts and movies and other public places where people that have no desire to use are. Do we really need another substance that causes a user to be less than their best? Isn't alcohol enough of a problem in the US? Drunk driving kills way too many innocent people each year and to legalise one more substance that is going to be abused makes no sense. But personally I'd like to legalise all drugs and give them away free to users, in a pure form, and let the Darwin principle tale its toll.

[blahblahbla5]

BTW, thanks Bayless. That's a very nice thing to say.

[blahblahbla5]

I also find it interesting how the ad hominems fly when the prohibitionists' argument for continuing to lock up people for their consensual behaviors is directly questioned - David Koresh, "take another bong hit," "eat some cheetos," et cetera. And then even joking about jailing this guy for simply speaking his mind? You should be ashamed.

I find it sad how far from the intent of the Founders of this country we have wandered.

This quote, attributed to Abraham Lincoln, sums things up nicely:

"Prohibition will work great injury to the cause of temperance. It is a species of intemperance within itself, for it goes beyond the bounds of reason in that it attempts to control a man's appetite by legislation, and makes a crime out of things that are not crimes. A Prohibition law strikes a blow at the very principles upon which our government was founded."

Another great site for people to educate themselves:

"Ain't Nobody's Business if You Do: The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in Our Free Country"

http://www.mcwilliams.com/books/books/aint/toc.htm

[blahblahbla5]

First, it's funny how the prohibitionists on this discussion board spend their time trying to impugn this guy's motives. Again, there's 100 different ways this guy can make much money besides making this video, and I'm sure it's not worth the abuse from the small-minded authoritarians and big-government nanny-pushers out there.

And so what if he does make a few bucks? He deserves at least a modest return on what he does. He didn't sign up to be a saint, I don't think he should be. Prohibitionists make money for locking up parents and family members for consensual possession of marijuana, and he should make money for preventing it.

Second, what is this NONSENSE about "aiding and abetting the destruction of the American nervous system"???? What in the holy hell does that mean? We don't *HAVE* a collective nervous system, and no one is in charge of my nervous system except me.

If you don't like drugs, don't do them. I accept that the rules need to be different for children (e.g., those under 18), but there is simply no reason to be regulating the private, consensual behavior of adults in their own homes. If I want to grow a crop in my windowbox, no one should have any say about it.

[freezulu]

This is clearly a scam to make money. I don't think he's going to donate the money made from the DVD to the ACLU, so don't give me that civil liberties bull****!

Also, the "war on drugs" is like the war in Iraq: who's the real enemy? what is victory? when will it ever end? Meanwhile, we pour endless taxpayer funds into the military/police to fight the on-going wars.