Thanks to Steve Bloom at CelebStoner.com and Russ Belville at NORML's Daily AudioStash for pointing out this story.
Student Shot By Police: Calls for Peace
3/14/09- Chris Goldstein
This week saw another near-deadly casualty of marijuana prohibition in the story of Derek Copp; a 20 year-old college student known for his love of music and laid-back demeanor, who was shot in the chest by a specialized drug enforcement unit.
The story continues to unfold with excellent, comprehensive coverage from the Grand Rapids Press. I encourage everyone to read up, Derek is an incredible young man …it is a moving series of events. http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/gvsu_shooting/
Summary:
Police have acknowledged Derek was unarmed when the West Michigan Enforcement Team served a still-sealed warrant at his off campus apartment. Michigan State Police are investigating the shooting.
Neighbors said that they often smelled marijuana outside his door, but that the building had a ‘no party’ rule. Derek was known for his support of marijuana policy reform., including joining a Facebook group related to Michigan’s medical marijuana efforts.
Protests were already under way on the Grand Valley State University campus. Amazingly, Derek appeared by cell phone at a rally Friday, to shout over a bullhorn “Give Peace a Chance” to the crowd from his hospital bed.
Commentary:
Consuming cannabis is a very common activity for college students in Michigan. There have been numerous marijuana liberalization laws and ordinances enacted there in municipalities, cities and at the state level. College towns like Ann Arbor, represent the most progressive areas off the west coast, for cannabis reform.
Young Americans bear the brunt of cannabis prohibition including law enforcement tactics carried out at gunpoint. Statistics show that a huge chunk of the 872,000 citizens arrested each year for marijuana violations are college-age.
The West Michigan Enforcement Team included members of several area police forces and has faced intense scrutiny in the wake of the shooting.
A similar, specialized, prohibition enforcement unit was dissolved in Atlanta following the shooting of 92 year old Kathryn Johnston. Those former Atlanta Narcotics Officers were recently sentenced for the 2006 shooting.
We, as a society, need teams of experienced police officers who are comfortable wielding their weapons to deal with the truly violent people among us. The bravery and intense commitment of specialized law enforcement teams to protect us all, deserves sincere respect.
But these soldiers are being sent to the wrong battle. We absolutely do not need to utterly waste such law enforcement resources on 20 year-old potsmokers. It is a dangerous over-application of force, as proven again with this shooting.
That heavily armed team was sent instead of a local police officer to enforce possession ordinances.
But the college kid they encountered was Derek Copp, who turned out to be a most shining example of a peace-loving American. He has been unafraid to share his thoughts on what he believes, including cannabis reform. By all accounts I have read or seen, Derek is a successful, well-liked person with a flair for film production.
He has also shown a rare capacity for courage and fortitude with a strong foundation in non-violence.
To have a 20 year-old who was shot in the chest by police over cannabis call a rally to say “Give Peace A Chance” makes many of us shout out “Yes!!!” In all sincerity, the story has moved many to tears as well.
Reading this case unfold and watching the support for Derek from his parents and follow students has given additional strength to my own beliefs on peace and non -violence as war is indeed waged.
Marijuana prohibition laws need to change as soon as possible, because it is our young Americans who are on the front lines of prohibition. Our promising youth are all too often casualties or victims.
Derek, thank you for being a fantastic illustration of the best among us. There will be millions of Cannabis Consumers in the US and around the world thinking of your positive recovery.
Student Shot By Police: Calls For Peace by Chris Goldstein is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Based on a work at http://open.salon.com/blog/freedomisgreen.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.activevoiceradio.com.
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Comments
there must be a real big bureaucracy driving the dea by now, i suspect some of america's idiocy is simply institutional, think of the expense if these guys had to retrain, those that couldn't get into blackwater.
Hey Al Loomis...seriously I don't think anyone is really at fault here in any malicious way. The Ottowa County Sheriff's Officer who fired the shot is prolly the only one who feels near as bad as Derek himself...Give Peace A Chance is kinda universal too...
Again this is a mis-use of a tool....do you use a jackhammer to drive in a finishing nail? Do you use a tank to shoot doves?
We really do need those guys on those teams....just not at all for cannabis prohibition....check out L.E.A.P. Law Enforcement Against Prohibition
im workin on something for tomorrow.....marijuana refrom has seriously gone mainstream....
I like to think cops surely have something better to do with themselves besides trying to KILL someone for smoking weed.
I will read these links and come back.
thanks so for these very important posts here, freedomisgreen.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/03/derek_copps_dad_says_gvsu_stud.html#more
The machine is larger than the individual parts and has a huge appetite. Prisons must be filled. Guards and law enforcement must have work to do.
Have to give the kid credit for keeping his cool. Few among us would be able to squelch the rage.
Your Prohibition poster pretty much summarizes everything I've been saying. Certainly Derek Copp isn't the first unarmed person to be shot by police during its drug wars.
War on Drugs? We might as well fight a war on cockroaches. Both drug lords and roaches are just as likely to come back more resistant to any attempts to eradicate them. Living in a border state, I am certainly aware of what has been happening just across the border and spilling onto our side. The only way to put a drug lord out of business is to legalize what he's selling.
No way is our law enforcement going to barge down the door and start shooting at the Columbian and other drug lords, even though they know where each and every one of them lives.
You're so right in saying that spending our tax dollars to shoot and nearly kill a pot-smoking college student is obscene, insane, and absurd!!!! The LEGAL drugs are the dangerous ones!!! The idea that marijuana is a danger to anyone is misguided and ignorant at best and stinks of political and law enforcement corruption at worst.
One of the important shifts in my personal view of how prohibition will end includes both respect and understanding of law enforcement. A peaceful end to any war includes respect for the soldiers. Cops have the most unenviable job in our society. We exist in an extreme of violence right now, from border towns to inner cities. No one in the cannabis reform movement will deny that there are criminal elements in the underground market, but like alcohol, this criminal element is a by-product of prohibition itself.
This very argument is why many former (even current) law enforcement and government officials support reform.
Many of you are well read and know the true examples of successful social jusitice change. Fear is only conquered, for all involved, with an abundance of mutual respect.
Like Derek said "Give Peace a Chance"
http://www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2009/03/live_blog_from_the_gvsu_protes.html
This is just more absolutely infuriating horseshit revolving around the war on drugs.
"We, as a society, need teams of experienced police officers who are comfortable wielding their weapons to deal with the truly violent people among us"
Amen! If the feds would get their heads out of their asses and decriminalize drugs, people would quit losing their lives, both literally and socially, over such nonsense. Why is there a reason to raid a kid’s home over grass anyway, much less with weapons?
There has been so damned much hype in the media and by the ultra-rightwingnuts over drugs, the measures frequently taken by law enforcement have become completely out of control and ridiculously heavy-handed; all just to soothe the blood-thirsty demagogues in their never-ending search for that top rung for them to step onto.
It’s exasperating how perspectives seem to sway in 180 degree increments when morons control the nation’s perspective of life:
Carry a gun! Get a patriotic pat on the back!
Carry a joint, get shot!
"We, as a society, need teams of experienced police officers who are comfortable wielding their weapons to deal with the truly violent people among us"
Amen! If the feds would get their heads out of their asses and decriminalize drugs, people would wuit losing their lives, both literally and figuratively
http://www.prx.org/pieces/34539
Gonna post something new 2nite:)
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