handheld electronic pot sniffers

[bass ackwards]

Last night I saw a piece on the news concerning Mexican drug cartels and the Mexican governments fight against them. It seems that the police have a small handheld device that they use to "sniff" the air for cocaine,amphetamines,or marijuana. The newspiece said they could detect the presence of these substances from 300ft. away.

Has anyone else heard of this? This is some scary shit!

Respect bass

 

[mean mr.mustard]

Not if you live under the Constitution... or what remains of it.

 

[ninfan77]

http://crime.about.com/od/drugwar/a/hound_sniffer.htm

Sandia loaned the South Texas Specialized Crimes and Narcotics Task Force one of its prototype Hound systems in November 2003 as part of a field trial to evaluate the system for drug detection. Since then Task Force officers have used the Hound system at border checkpoints to help screen vehicles for narcotics and drug money.
Task Force officials say its officers have on numerous occasions used the Hound system to help local, state, and federal law enforcement officers detect covert narcotics shipments in vehicles at checkpoints; locate nitro, heroin, cocaine, and marijuana in middle schools and high schools; seize drug money going south into Mexico; and build a case against a suspect in a night club shooting.


http://www.detectachem.com/

 

[boroboro]

Hey, who needs a Constitution when there are profits to be had:

The GE Streetlab would fit that description:

GE Security's StreetLab portable explosive/narcotics detector detects traces of explosives and drugs in seconds with an easy-to-use touchscreen interface design. This system is designed for use on the bench and on the beat with law enforcement, customs and border personnel, forensics labs and military personnel employing the portable substance identification system

http://streetlabmobile.com/

If you have a few dollars more, GE would be happy to upgrade you to the VaporTracer 2:
http://www.sensorsystems.co.nz/VaporTracer2_18.htm

 

[Dr. Smokepuma]

awsome the old peace of paper known as the Constitution... thrown aside again big surprise.

 

[bass ackwards]

So these units are being used here in the States as far back as 2003, I believe there is more rational for using them at border entry points than within our borders. But use by local LEO is pretty scarey. I have virions of them driving slowly down the street holding one of these devices out the window sniffing the neighborhood. If they get a signal they log the location and come back later to conduct a more thorough search. Since they would not be searching any particular person or property what would the courts say if you were caught up by this method?
As I said before,this is some scary shit!

Respect bass

 

[hkush]

If you're worried about it you could always dispose of your chopped up males around the neighborhood. Leave a dust trail right through and out the neighborhood. Just don't start at your house.

 

[_Dude]

In a way this has the potential to be a good thing. If these devices become commonplace, then dogs and "trained officers" will probably lose all credibility in court. Think about radar detectors. These days cops can't give speeding tickets without them, so they keep cops honest. And if they can buy them, so can civilians, so they can know for sure instead of wondering about false signals from K-9s, or lying cops.