Pubdate: Fri, 16 Jun 2000
Source: Denver Post (CO)
Copyright: 2000 The Denver Post
Contact:  1560 Broadway, Denver, CO 80202
Fax: (303) 820.1502
Website: http://www.denverpost.com/
Forum: http://www.denverpost.com/voice/voice.htm
Author: Electa Draper - Denver Post Four Corners Bureau

TELLURIDE DRUG CHECKPOINT BUSY

June 16, 2000 - Law officers were so busy at a drug checkpoint south of
Telluride Wednesday and Thursday, the kickoff of the mountain hamlet's
wildly popular Bluegrass Festival, that they could barely keep up with the
paperwork, Dolores County Sheriff Jerry Martin said.

"It just bowled us over," Martin said. "It was a great success. I'm going to
be in court for the next six months." Amid howls of protests from some
motorists and local observers who said rights to privacy and other personal
freedoms were being sacrificed, a drug interdiction team with officers from
Cortez and Dolores and Montezuma counties made 20 arrests on Wednesday
alone.

Four were on suspicion of felonies, Martin said. Officers also seized two
cars at their checkpoint on Colorado 145 between Rico and Telluride.

"I think it's outrageous," Telluride Mayor Amy Levek said. "I'm not sure
what the motivation is. The bluegrass festival has had its ups and downs,
but for the last 10 years the crowd has been very manageable, a good crowd."

She suggested that timing the checkpoint to coincide with the festival was
an attempt to generate revenue for neighboring Dolores County. Telluride is
in San Miguel County.

"I have been in the hot seat of this," Martin said midway through Thursday's
effort. "But there's absolutely no constitutional right being violated.
People have been treated very courteously."

Bluegrass festival promoter Craig Ferguson said Thursday that public safety
was the principal concern, and he had no problem with officers enforcing the
law. However, he said, he hoped concert-goers were not being targeted.

Officers didn't stop everyone, Martin said, only those who "violated traffic
laws, usually by slamming on their brakes and making an illegal U-turn" in
the middle of the highway to avoid the checkpoint.

Cars were searched only when occupants gave their permission or after an
arrest. Those arrests involved people who either had outstanding warrants or
had illegal substances in plain view, he said.

Most of the catch Wednesday was marijuana or psilocybin from hallucinogenic
mushrooms, which surprised Martin, who said methamphetamine is the "drug of
choice" for the area.

However, much of the contraband was probably intended for sale at the
festival, he said. As many as 10,000 people pour into Telluride each day of
the event, according to the town's estimate.

"Drugs going through Dolores County is something that concerns me," Martin
said. "We'll do whatever we can to stop that kind of traffic." San Miguel
County Sheriff Bill Masters said that while he is a friend and admirer of
Martin's, he is philosophically opposed to such tactics and won't use them
in his jurisdiction.

"I believe the drug war is a mistake and it causes more problems than it
solves," he said.
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