Call Off the Global Drug War

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So there is some good news in here.  If I decided now to become a coke-head it might not be as expensive in years past.  I see that as a WIN!

Pepsi, no Coke.

 

[Conan71]

Pepsi, no Coke.

 

Chee burger chee burger....

[patric]

http://www.fox2detroit.com/news/local-news/detroit-police-officers-fight-each-other-in-undercover-op-gone-wrong

[patric]

The Frontier investigates phony drug dog "hits"

A positive alert by a certified law enforcement agency’s narcotics-detection dog in most cases gives police probable cause to perform a search of a vehicle without a search warrant, whether the vehicle’s driver consents to the search or not, and “K-9” units are often used in law enforcement highway drug interdiction operations.

However, some defense attorneys and civil libertarians say — and at least one scientific study has found — that handlers can trigger a positive alert by their canine partner, either purposefully or through body language stemming from the handler’s own unconscious biases about whether drugs will be found.

https://www.readfrontier.org/stories/sunshine-week-many-law-enforcement-agencies-withhold-drug-detecting-dog-records/

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that handlers can trigger a positive alert by their canine partner, either purposefully or through body language stemming from the handler’s own unconscious biases about whether drugs will be found.

Seriously?

[rebound]

Seriously?

It's a badly-written sentence, in that anything done "purposefully" isn't due to unconscious bias.  However, having trained multiple dogs over the years for  hunting and general obedience, dogs definitely respond to everything you do, even small slight changes in behavior that the person may not be aware of.  There's no doubt this type of thing happens all the time, due to both the conscious and unconscious actions of the handler.

[patric]

It's a badly-written sentence, in that anything done "purposefully" isn't due to unconscious bias.  However, having trained multiple dogs over the years for  hunting and general obedience, dogs definitely respond to everything you do, even small slight changes in behavior that the person may not be aware of.  There's no doubt this type of thing happens all the time, due to both the conscious and unconscious actions of the handler.

Explosive- and drug-sniffing dogs' performance is affected by their handlers' beliefs
UC Davis study finds detection dogs may exhibit the "Clever Hans" effect
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/welcome/features/2010-2011/02/20110223_drug_dogs.html

[rebound]

Explosive- and drug-sniffing dogs' performance is affected by their handlers' beliefs
UC Davis study finds detection dogs may exhibit the "Clever Hans" effect
http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/welcome/features/2010-2011/02/20110223_drug_dogs.html

That is interesting, and is exactly what I have suspected.

When I was in grad school, a housemate of mine owned the smartest Doberman I've ever seen.   That dog was so attuned to human nuances that it was, seriously, like interacting with a person. (He actually beat us in poker one night.  No joke. I assume it was just luck, but I'm not so sure...)   One "trick" in particular was his ability to add two numbers together.   The guy would ask for a combination of two numbers, 1-5, and would hold up those numbers on each hand, and ask Harley (the dog) to add them together.  Harley would bark the appropriate number of times, and he was right every time.   

I knew it had to be a trick, but I watched the guy do this a dozen times or more, and could not figure it out.   He held up the numbers, and asked the dog to answer, and the dog barked the correct number of times.   It was amazing.   Finally, he told me to watch his left elbow.   When he would hold up the numbers on on each hand, both his elbows were relatively tight against to his body.  When the dog got the correct number of barks, he let his elbow move slightly away from his body.  The dog saw this and stopped barking.  It was ridiculously subtle.  Harley and I learned how to do the trick together, and we impressed everyone (mostly girls, harley loved attention from girls...) at parties for the next year or so.  No one could ever figure it out, and some people honestly thought the dog could add numbers.

 

[patric]

That is interesting, and is exactly what I have suspected.

When I was in grad school, a housemate of mine owned the smartest Doberman I've ever seen.   That dog was so attuned to human nuances that it was, seriously, like interacting with a person. (He actually beat us in poker one night.  No joke. I assume it was just luck, but I'm not so sure...)   One "trick" in particular was his ability to add two numbers together.   The guy would ask for a combination of two numbers, 1-5, and would hold up those numbers on each hand, and ask Harley (the dog) to add them together.  Harley would bark the appropriate number of times, and he was right every time.   

I knew it had to be a trick, but I watched the guy do this a dozen times or more, and could not figure it out.   He held up the numbers, and asked the dog to answer, and the dog barked the correct number of times.   It was amazing.   Finally, he told me to watch his left elbow.   When he would hold up the numbers on on each hand, both his elbows were relatively tight against to his body.  When the dog got the correct number of barks, he let his elbow move slightly away from his body.  The dog saw this and stopped barking.  It was ridiculously subtle.  Harley and I learned how to do the trick together, and we impressed everyone (mostly girls, harley loved attention from girls...) at parties for the next year or so.  No one could ever figure it out, and some people honestly thought the dog could add numbers.

I guess the big question is why the charade using dogs as probable cause generators when merely uttering the phrase "I smell marijuana" acomplishes the same?

[Conan71]

I guess the big question is why the charade using dogs as probable cause generators when merely uttering the phrase "I smell marijuana" acomplishes the same?

The guy/gal might have a coil of burning rope in their trunk.  It happens.

[patric]

The guy/gal might have a coil of burning rope in their trunk.  It happens.

I am a pro-marijuana pediatrician, not because available treatments are inadequate, but because it can remove me from the liability of prescribing opioids.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/pro-marijuana-pediatrician-opioids_us_5ac281e0e4b04646b6452c1e


[font=comic sans msPlaces with legal marijuana issue fewer opioid prescriptions, large studies find[/font]
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/places-with-legal-marijuana-issue-fewer-opioid-prescriptions-large-studies-find