Not Just Your Breath — Police Now Conducting Saliva Swabs to Check Drivers for Cannabis

Free Thought Project – by Claire Bernish

Michigan State Police plan to implement one of the most invasive methods of drug testing in the country in a pilot program: saliva tests.

Five counties will force their residents into becoming guinea pigs for what must be the worst thwarting of constitutional and privacy rights in recent years. Saliva-based tests will check drivers for cannabis, heroin, cocaine, and more — thanks to perhaps the most despised governor in the U.S., Rick Snyder.  

“The five-county pilot program will be used to help determine accuracy and reliability of the tests,” Snyder explained in June after signing the bill into law, as MLive reported.

In other words, whoever happens to be unfortunate enough to have their saliva tested will literally be a guinea pig of the state — and there doesn’t appear to be any further information concerning recourse for those tested should the tests prove inaccurate.

“We expect the counties to be finalized this summer with a pilot to begin sometime later in the year,” MLive quoted Shanon Banner, spokeswoman for the Michigan State Police.

Ostensibly, Drug Recognition Experts (DRE officers) — of which the state currently has 99 for 37 of its counties — have been given “highly specialized training” to assist them in recognizing drug-impaired drivers.

According to MLive, the “saliva analysis will only be administered by a DRE, [Banner] said, and will be given along with the drug recognition 12-step evaluation currently used. DREs employed by state, county and municipal agencies could also be involved.”

Though reports about this pilot program seem to have been obfuscated by both the 2016 presidential theater and recent violence by and against police, roadside saliva assessments represent a terrifyingly dystopic advancement of the Police State — even though the program was spawned for seemingly noble reasons.

Officially titled the “Barbara J. and Thomas J. Swift Law” to honor a couple killed when their Chevy Malibu was struck by a red light-running semi truck in Escanaba on March 20, 2013, the legislation was inspired by the couple’s son, Brian, who sought a better method for drug-testing impaired drivers.

But the explanation of that crash has similarly alarming connotations. As MLive explained:

“Tractor-trailer driver Harley Davidson Durocher was convicted of charges including operating while intoxicated causing death, and sentenced to a minimum of five years and five months in prison for the crash. Durocher’s blood was drawn at a hospital following the crash and showed THC, an ingredient of marijuana, leading to the charges.”

However, that in itself is highly problematic — impairment caused by THC can’t precisely be tested by blood, several studies have found. In fact, the Arizona Supreme Court unanimously ruled in November last year the presence of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) — the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis — in the blood does not necessarily indicate impairment.

Granted, state laws about the presence of certain drugs and in what quantities vary widely, but using what amounts to unfounded ‘science’ to then create a law with even greater invasiveness marks quite the leap of logic.

Attorney Neil Rockind opposed Michigan’s saliva-based drug testing legislation, warning it would set “a dangerous precedent” in the state.

“The criminal justice system wants to take science and turn it into a fast, easy utility,” Rockind advised. “Science is neither fast nor easy.”

Michigan’s new law dictates MSP will roll out the pilot in five counties to ‘establish policies in the area of roadside analysis … and to make a determination of the accuracy and reliability of the tests,’ Banner said, as MLive paraphrased.

As the nanny government and Police State encroach ever further on our civil rights and liberties, it would be advisable to keep watch for other states attempting similar saliva-based drug testing — especially given the arbitrary, hastily implemented science upon which such tests are founded.
Read more at http://thefreethoughtproject.com/police-saliva-tests/#mGBJIKetqLrMQ0Eq.99

4 thoughts on “Not Just Your Breath — Police Now Conducting Saliva Swabs to Check Drivers for Cannabis

  1. Ive seen this posted 2 or 3 times.. Never do they mention what Counties they will test in( not that unconstitutional actions are good or right in any state or county
    or what the probable cause will be for this Police State action

    they also dont post the threshold level testing for , or at .. what companies testing devices will be used.. what lab will be following up on the tests, or what the recourse will be for the ones snared in this draconian revenue generating program , some saliva tests are good up til more then 48 hours from consumption ,, no one is high still after a few hours , let alone 48 hours

    what about all the medical MJ users ? how will they be treated? lose their ability to drive legally?.. no one is addressing any of these issues .. its just a money grab and a life altering charge

    we need to follow the money, also to see how much of this is lining ol’trickey Rickys pockets .. this will destroy many lives unnecessarily , and illegally

    you can bet that every State Cop pull over will come with this treatment .. no matter what you did or didnt do

    oh and what are they trying to do? , get more cops killed? because this could be the outcome of this type of invasion of privacy ..
    once people realize the economic destruction this can cause, people will be willing to fight back

    oh and where is the DNA captured in this stunt going to end up?

    a crime scene down the road that they cant find a patsy for ? you betcha

    this will radiate to your state too and mine ..once they see how much money Michigan is raking in
    BTW Michigan is broke .. most people in Michigan are out of work or close to poverty.. beautiful state that the Dems(deamons) have destroyed

    1. Information being sold to a third party (big pharma) for profit and they get you to pay for it by charging you to get your dna examined. Wait until the state gets wind of how much money they can make from this forced extraction of dna soon every interaction will require a dna extraction.

      Deal with the feds
      http://gizmodo.com/23andme-is-back-in-the-genetic-testing-business-with-fd-1737917276

      The plan all along
      http://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2015/01/06/surprise-with-60-million-genentech-deal-23andme-has-a-business-plan/#502f1e7d7927

      http://gizmodo.com/of-course-23andmes-business-plan-has-been-to-sell-your-1677810999

      Who is running the show.
      http://www.renegadetribune.com/the-jews-behind-23andme-and-family-tree-dna/

  2. And the people will continue to accept the tyranny and anything else that this enemy force in occupation can think of to do to them because they are too chickenshit to do anything about it.

    WAKE UP, PEOPLE!

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