On Barry Cooper's latest avoid-getting-busted video release
Former Texas police officer Barry Cooper is at it again. Granted instant media notoriety when he switched sides and released a 2006 video, "Never Get Busted Again," Cooper provided tips and advice to people about how to travel with marijuana and avoid getting nailed. (Our colleagues at Flex Your Rights have criticized some of Cooper's advice, but that's not what this post is about.) Today, Cooper begins shipping his latest effort, "Never Get Raided," a primer on how to possess, grow, and sell pot without getting busted.
Cooper is not well liked in the drug reform community. He got off on the wrong foot by falsely affiliating himself with Law Enforcement Against Prohibition, as noted above, his advice has been criticized, and his personal behavior has been called into question as well. He has also been accused of being a mercenary (for not giving away his videos). I'm sure a lot of those criticisms are well-founded, but that's not what this post is about, either.
I haven't seen Cooper's latest effort. I don't know if it delivers the goods, and I'm not here to say you should go out and buy it. But I certainly support any effort to blunt the ability of the cops to bust people for pot offenses.
What roused me from my dogmatic slumber on this was LEAP executive director Jack Cole's quote in a Dallas Morning News article about Cooper and the new video. What Cooper is doing is wrong, Cole said: "We don't agree philosophically at all on these issues," said Cole. "He thinks he should be able to school people on how to break the law, we believe in changing the law."
Sorry, Jack, I'm with Barry Cooper on this one. There is no moral, ethical, or philosophical justification whatsoever for terrorizing, arresting, prosecuting, and jailing people for marijuana offenses. Anyone who can teach the nation's millions of pot smokers have to avoid the cops deserves kudos, not criticism. It's not like he's teaching people how to be better killers or robbers. We are talking about a non-violent activity that does no harm to anyone except, arguably, the pot smoker himself.
As old-school American dissident Henry David Thoreau once noted, ""Unjust laws exist. Shall we be content to obey them, or shall we endeavor to amend them and obey them until we succeed, or shall we transgress them at once?"
Or shall we, like Mr. Cooper, tell people how to successfully transgress them? Hell, yeah.
I understand where Jack Cole is coming from. LEAP needs to be viewed as responsible law enforcement opposition to the drug war, not as a bunch of drug crime facilitators. But I don't carry that particular burden, so I say good on Barry Cooper (provided, of course, that his advice is good). Yes, of course, we need to change the drugs laws. But in the meantime, as 800,000 people get arrested each year on pot charges, we need to reduce the harm, and helping people avoid arrest and prosecution for marijuana offenses is doing precisely that. The pot laws need to be subverted, and if Barry Cooper's videos help do that, more power to him.
Nice Post
Comment posted by Anonymous on Tue, 03/04/2008 - 6:06pmHey Phillip,
I'm glad you see through all the disinformation some in the reform community have delivered regarding my efforts. I would also like to point out I NEVER falsely affiliated myself with L.E.A.P. I was on their website as one of their speakers and was asked by three board members to give L.E.A.P. plugs during my national media appearances. I gave the plugs and L.E.A.P. freaked for no apparent reason and decided to distance themselves from me.
Jack Cole also stated in an Associated Press interview: "While LEAP is in sympathy with millions of people who have their lives damaged or destroyed by the failed policy of drug prohibition, LEAP in no way endorses the violation of the law, or any efforts to frustrate the hard work of those sworn to uphold the law."
It is NeverGetBusted's policy to do EVERYTHING legally possible to frustrate law enforcement's efforts to arrest non-violent offenders while trying to change the law at the same time. I am not only teaching citizens how to stay out of jail, but I am also trying to change the laws...I am testifying in courts about illegal searches and I am running for U.S. Congress District 31, Texas.
I wish L.E.A.P. would extend their hand and meet mine for a handshake...not because I need it but because the movement needs it...organizations coming together and placing childish fights aside. It hurts the movement every time Jack Cole criticizes true freedom fighters. He should use his media opportunities more wisely.
The rest of the Reform community has already caught on and now realizes I am a friend. I write for Marc Emery (Cannabis Culture) now and am working closely with NORML Dallas Chapter by speaking at their events. The reform "knee jerk" happened a year ago and few are still kicking! LOL.
You can see the entire first chapter of NeverGetRaided where I sneak into a pot field: It's on the front page of my site: www.nevergetbusted.com
Peace, Love and NeverGetBusted,
Barry N. Cooper
CEO/NeverGetBusted
Mr.Cooper
Comment posted by sicntired on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 3:19amsicntired I saw your speech at a college somewhere and was really impressed with the way it was put together.I tried to find out who you were and now I find out Jack Cole is giving you a hard time splitting hairs.I think the people at LEAP do some good work but there's no room in this for us to be trying to discredit each other.I'm glad to see you're taking the high road and reaching out.I hope the people at LEAP will put aside whatever imagined differences they think there are .We're all on the same side here or we should be.
Barry I would just like to
Comment posted by Anonymous on Tue, 03/04/2008 - 6:33pmBarry I would just like to say that I have a huge amount of respect for you and what you are doing. I am not from the US and the laws regarding marijuana may or may not be as strict here as it is in the US, but I believe that even giving as much as a warning or a fine to non violent person partaking in a victimless crime is a huge slap in the face of personal freedom. All this while people who irresponsibly drink alcohol are allowed to be legal public nuisances. Things like slavery, witch trials and censorship were all abolished by people like you. This whole "staying obedient and trying to change the laws" nonsense doesn't work. As the saying goes: obedience is slavery. Keep up the good fight.
The cops themselves like Barry Cooper
Comment posted by Anonymous on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 2:50amFrom a police forum:
http://forums.officer.com/showthread.php?t=76619
Quote:
Buy this guys videos. http://nevergetbusted.com/ Former drug agent that turned sour and tells people how to hide their stash. I have one on order. I am going to watch what the dirt balls are watching.
Barry Cooper
Comment posted by sicntired on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 3:09amsicntired This guy is the best speaker on drug legalization I've ever heard and I've heard a lot of speeches.I have no idea what Mr.Cole's beef is but you're never going to beat the drug war if you're afraid of speaking out against every aspect of it.I would liken this to NORML's stance on trafficking.Where do these guy's get their dope?You can't say it's OK to smoke but god damn the pusher.Give me a break.In my country,possession of as little as one pot plant is now a mandatory 6 month jail term.I've heard a lot of nonsense on this issue but to give this guy a hard time is bull shit.You're either against drug prohibition or you're not.To argue over nuances is just plain foolish.It's finally starting to look like we're making some real progress on this issue.Are we now going to start taking shots at each other over minor differences.I've been addicted to opiates for 40 years and I signed up with LEAP.They'll take me but they have issues with a former drug cop?Let's keep it together people.This fight is only just beginning.
Abrasive, but attention-getting
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 03/07/2008 - 2:31pmI've found Barry's style to be a little like a cross between a TV Preacher and a Professional Wrestler. I'm not entirely sure what motivates him...but I think the activism will grow from his efforts despite his own foibles. I look forward to seeing such a movie, I think it would be incredibly important.
It was tacky of Barry to affiliate himself with LEAP without more involved agreements, but that seems typical of him. LEAP should overcome it's stodgy, law-enforcement superiority and welcome a member who can rock the boat.
I have avoided getting
Comment posted by Anonymous on Fri, 04/11/2008 - 2:46pmI have avoided getting busted for 40yrs. I keep a low profile. We don't need to avoid getting busted, we need to go out of our way, in an organized manner, to get busted. When they try to write a citation, refuse to sign it, demand a lawyer, and a trial by jury. Be slow to post bond, or request ROR. When people are lined up down the hall, and out the door, things might start to change rather quickly. Organization is the key, and being ready to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Ironman
Emma Goldman
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Nit picking
Comment posted by sicntired on Thu, 08/14/2008 - 2:54amsicntired@mac.com,Vancouver,B.C.Canada I was impressed with the first talk I saw Cooper give at a university Campus.I don't understand the need some people feel to put down other advocates for petty reasons.The LEAP thing was more of a misunderstanding as I read it.It does no one any good for any of us to snipe away at others.I have lots of disagreements with a lot of organizations and a lot of policy differences but we have to learn to work together or we'll be picked off one at a time.We are all working for the same thing,or at least some of the same things.Disagreements are good but personal attacks do no one any good.















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I liked Barry's first video
Comment posted by Anonymous on Mon, 03/03/2008 - 10:45pmI agree 100% with you Phillip. I think LEAP is still riding on its high horse and despises Barry Cooper due to the previous usurpation of their credentials. I especially like the harm reduction analogy you raised. Better to keep more people out of jail while carrying the fight!
Also, I look forward to his 50/50 reality TV experiment where people will party in a big place and get smashed with booze, and then try the same thing with the same people, but with pot instead. With the fad that is reality TV nowadays, it could be a good way to reach untapped audiences that wouldn't be so sympathetic to our message otherwise.