Pubdate: Thu, 9 Dec 2010
Source: Huffington Post (US Web)
Copyright: 2010 HuffingtonPost com, Inc.
Website: http://www.huffingtonpost.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4517
Author: Anthony Papa
Note: Anthony Papa is the author of 15 to Life and the Manager of 
Media Relations for the Drug Policy Alliance.

Bridget Brennan Drug Bust

COLUMBIA STUDENTS, NOT COLOMBIAN KINGPINS

On Tuesday five students were arrested for allegedly selling drugs at Columbia
University. In a press release distributed by the Office of the
Special Narcotics Prosecutor, headed by Bridgette Brennan, the bust
was dubbed "Operation Ivy League." It was described as the culmination
of a five-month police sting where they planted a baby-faced looking
undercover cop to purchase drugs from the students.

This bust immediately brought back memories to me of a similar drug
bust in 2004 involving kids in Berkshire County in Massachusetts. At
that time another baby face detective, employed by the Drug Task
Force, was assigned the duty of going undercover to buy drugs from
kids who hung out in a parking lot. Merchants had complained to police
about the kids. For months the undercover cop hung out with the kids,
even allegedly drinking with them, while purchasing drugs. The
undercover cop even talked about how he just lost his girlfriend to
get the kids to feel sorry for him. This resulted in the arrest of 19
kids. One of them, 18-year-old Mitchell Lawrence, received two years
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ek0fZExTqQ8) for the sale of one
joint. Mitchell was set to graduate from high school that spring.
Instead, he watched his fellow classmates graduate from his prison
cell.

So let me get this straight--the baby-face detective went to Columbia
University and into the student dorms and made 31 buys over a
five-month period that got a small amount of assorted drugs, including
pot and a handful of pills. Two of the students claim that they sold
the drugs to pay for their tuition. Another student, Christopher
Coles, told the NY Daily News that the cops are exaggerating. And why
wouldn't they? They always do.

I remember when I got arrested for a drug sale back in 1985. One
Westchester newspaper headline screamed "Biggest Bust in Mt. Vernon
History." This was used by the prosecutor to try and blow up my case
and convince the judge I was a kingpin. But I wasn't. I was a small
fry who made a mistake, and because of the draconian nature of the
drug laws, I was sentenced to 15 years to life for a first time
non-violent sale of four ounces of cocaine. My part of the take was
$500 for delivering the envelope of coke to undercover cops in a sting
operation. My life was ruined; I lost my family and everything I had
in life.

While the "Ivy League" bust is generating a wave of press and
Bridgette Brennan is loving her 15 minutes of fame on national TV, the
reality is that these busts are all hype and PR and will do nothing to
stop drug use on our campuses or in the city at large.

So I ask Brennan to remember any youthful discretion she might have
made when she was young. The five students arrested have their entire
lives in front of them. Please don't let one youthful mistake ruin
their lives forever. After all, we are talking about Columbia
students, not Colombia kingpins.
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MAP posted-by: Richard Lake