As if things weren’t Big Brother enough lately, CNN released a story this week about roadblocks set up around the country to study drugged and impaired driving through blood and saliva draws.
Yes. Blood and saliva draws. The reallymessed up part? It’s all done on a volunteer basis. That’s right: people are willingly giving their blood and spit to cops for $50 or less. The cost to taxpayers? About $8 million per report.
The report details operations in Alabama where the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration partnered with off-duty sheriff’s deputies to stop traffic and then divert willing participants to the researchers. Spit got you $10, blood got you $50.
And this has been going on for more than 30 years.
Researchers say that they have about 8,000 volunteers. But as the American Civil Liberties Union points out, the “volunteers” are basically being pulled over by cops.
“How voluntary is it when you have a police officer in uniform flagging you down?” asked Susan Watson, director of the Alabama ACLU chapter. “Are you going to stop? Yes, you’re going to stop.”
So, if you’re stopped in one of these things and some cop comes and asks if you’d like to participate what are you going to do? If you read this site regularly, you probably already know the answer:
You tell them to go fuck themselves.
Check out the rest of the report over at CNN.com
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/19/us/drug-survey-roadblocks/index.html