Pubdate: Fri, 22 Dec 2006
Source: Tyler Morning Telegraph (TX)
Copyright: 2006 T.B. Butler Publishing Company, Inc.
Contact:  http://www.tylerpaper.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1669
Author: Kenneth Dean, Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Marijuana)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/decrim.htm (Decrim/Legalization)

'NEVER GET BUSTED AGAIN' VIDEO DRAWING REACTION FROM AROUND THE GLOBE

The planned release of a video titled "Never Get Busted Again" by a 
former East Texas narcotics officer has generated reaction from 
around the globe.

"Is this a bloody hoax?" a British reporter from The London Times 
asked a Tyler Morning Telegraph reporter Friday morning. 
Tylerpaper.com and the Morning Telegraph were first to break the 
story of Barry Cooper and the "Never Get Busted Again" video he plans 
to begin selling Tuesday, Dec. 26, when his Web site goes live.

Cooper, hailed by his former superiors as possibly the best narcotics 
officer in the nation during his law enforcement career, said he 
couldn't believe the response he has gotten since the story broke 
Thursday evening on TylerPaper.com.

Cooper believes marijuana should be legalized, and that the 
imprisonment of people caught with the drug destroys their families 
and fills up jails and prisons across the country with non-violent 
offenders and he is using the video to teach people how to avoid 
arrest during a traffic stop.

"Wow. I can't believe there has been this much reaction," he told 
TylerPaper.com Friday morning. "I knew what the law enforcement 
communities' knee-jerk reaction would be, but hey, I'm not against them."

Since the story was released by the Web site, the newspaper and 
distributed by the Associated Press, more than 200 publications 
across the nation and overseas have posted the article on their Web sites.

Cooper is planning to do interviews with talk show host Tucker 
Carlson on MSNBC at 3:11 p.m. CST today and with John Gibson on FOX 
News at 4:35 p.m. CST.

Carlson's producer said Carlson believes Cooper to be a hero, because 
he is standing up and declaring the War on Drugs is not working.

"He (Carlson) really wants him on the show to talk about this 
subject," the producer said.

Cooper said he believes the controversial video and Web site might be 
a springboard to change in the nation's drug policies.

"I'm excited that finally there is a national platform that may free 
thousands of people from prison," Cooper said.

He told the newspaper earlier this week he is motivated to teach 
Americans about their civil liberties, and he is driven by the 
injustice and unfairness in the system.

Smith County Constable Mark Waters, who works drug interdiction on 
Interstate 20 near Tyler, said Cooper's actions were a disgrace to 
law enforcement.

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

Waters said he was also contacted by FOX News to discuss the issue.