" It seems that a major sticking point for alot of the comments is that these people are getting high and then driving around the community. It's funny, the article never mentioned a single arrest for impaired driving...

While I understand the fear, I think that with a little research one would find that two things are true:

1) For marijuana specifically, there are very very few documented cases in which someone being high on THC was the sole or primary reason for an auto accident.

2) The level of incapacitation brought on by LSD and other hallucinogens is so great that people who do choose to indulge would not willingly drive a vehicle.

To elaborate on that second point a bit... When someone drinks, the level of intoxication(and the legality of it) leave the option of driving open in ones mind. When one takes a hallucinogen, the level of intoxication and visual distortion is so great, that the mere thought of driving a vehicle is frightening.

Thousands of people are killed each year from drunk driving while the number of deaths and accidents in general that can be attributed to illegal drugs remains tiny.

And if you relate it to this event particularly, there was not a single instance of impaired driving. From the article itself:

"32 traffic citations, 28 equipment repair orders, 18 warnings, eight marijuana citations, six drug paraphernalia citations and one citation each for underage drinking and possession of tobacco"

So they pulled over all these people and not a single one of them was impaired...

And, I don't doubt that with most of these cases, it would take a mediocre attorney at best to get the drug charges dropped if the 'guilty parties' knew there rights. And in fact, had they known their rights, the charges may have never come about in the first place.

A broken taillight or speeding or other minor traffic violations ARE NOT reasonable suspicion to do a search on an automobile. And the owners of said vehicles in most of these case could have simply told the cops no. That would required the police to obtain a search warrant, which means going to a judge and trying to justify it. Not gonna happen.

So then what happens? All this man power and resource is used to arrest these individuals who were doing nothing more than making minor traffic violations (again, there were ZERO arrests for impaired driving). They had to be housed in a cell, the paperwork had to be done to book them and then to release them. If they are smart, it will be taken to court, which costs the county money, and in most cases the charges will likely be dropped and fines will end up not having to be paid because the police never had reasonable cause to search the vehicles.

So in the end you have wasted all this time effort and money, to arrest people who were doing less harm than Joe Johnson driving home from the local watering hole and you don't even get the money from the fines?

The authorities should be seeking out the real criminals. The child molesters, rapists, murderers, robbers, etc. instead of harassing people just looking to have a good time. If I were an ACTUAL criminal in this area, I would be out raping and murdering whenever one of these festivals occurs because clearly the cops are more concerned with roughing up a few stoners and cloud surfers than taking the real problems off the street. "

" While it is true that some highly addictive drugs can lead to overdose and death, it is worthwhile to remember that there is a difference between drugs like cocaine, meth, and heroin, and drugs like marijuana and lsd, which are not physically addictive or dangerous. Across America every weekend during the summer are many music festivals, often filled with responsible individuals who use illegal drugs to accomplish the same ends as alcohol, Effexor, and therapy. There is a difference between recreational and addictive drug use, it would do the general population good to become better educated about the difference. "

" For those people that think the community should just shut their eyes and turn the other cheek to this type of behavior (drug use), I challenge you to look into the eyes of someone who has lost a family member or friend over drug abuse. I applaud the cops for being aggressive and searching people. Too bad some people feel violated, but if they chose to come to an event that for a fact has had numerous violations of illegal drugs, then that's the price you have to pay. Obviously enough people in this gathering felt that illegal drugs were ok to have so you can thank them for our law enforcement doing their jobs. "

" Their drug use should be acceptable and ignored? Because that is what hippies do? Come on, get real and wake up to the year 2008. Drug use is a problem. Frankly, I am glad they picked them up. This whole issue with drug use in this county is ridiculous. Our County has allowed too much for too long and now everyone is taking advantage of it. They use drugs and clearly can't go a weekend without it and use our county to come to in order to use it and get away with it. I would rather do without them buying their gas, ice and beverages. Who is to say these people aren't dealing? And don't say NONE of them aren't, because no one knows that. Everyone hides something from the outside world. Even friends and family. So, honestly, I can do without the hippies and their drugs. It may be accepted in their little world, but I don't appreciate it one bit. "

" I am sure there are drugs everywhere in this county. So why add to the problem that is already there? More is not always better. "

" I wonder where the people at NCN (No Clothing Necessary) would hide their drugs. Yuck "

" How about setting up a road block going into the grove.
I bet you can get as many drugs in there too.
How about going onto the site of the event "with permission" to locate drug users?
NCN has allways offered access to the police for that reason. The police would rather bother people on the road! "

" Random thoughts:
31 cars pulled over, maybe more according to Truth
Drugs found in 11 of the cars.
That is around 28 percent of the cars stopped had drugs in them.
According to Truth the cops were only pulling over the ones that they thought they could find drugs in.
Truth called this profiling and/or discrimination.
Truth feels bad for the innocent people who got harassed because how they look. Truth should go to a major airport sometime. They can be searched at random and not just their luggage, but also their person.
Who really cares if these fest goers buy gas, food, ice, etc. the cost of law enforcement to stop the illegal activity is more.
Some of the responders are upset about the drunks that that cops cant catch but think its okay that these dopers come here and drive around. If catching drunks is overwhelming, why add dopers to the mix?
If law enforcement didnt need to deal with the imported dopers/hippies/drunks, they could concentrate on the ones we already have and get them off the streets.
It would be great if the people that want to use the illegal drugs would stay in the woods and not harm anyone but themselves. They can buy gas, food, ice and anything else that profits Jackson County go to the woods and get stoned out of their minds and drive home when they are sober. The problem is they become impaired and then go buy gas, food and ice. Maybe we could get the imported dopers to crash with the local drunks and leave the innocent ones out it. No wait that would be profiling. We certainly cant do that.
The bottom line is the fact that the drugs they have are illegal. Until that changes, they will be stopped and arrested and have to forfeit the drugs, money, vehicles just like everyone that breaks the law.
To: Dopershippiesuseless people
Why add to the problems we already have? We should concentrate on fixing what we have then to throw more gas on the fire. "

" But when they got caught everyone needs to quit the complaining. They do what they do and those activities are illegal. The police can't stop them for absolutely nothing. If they did any other charges would be meritless. come on people smarten up and quit trying to play the "it's my rights" game. Having rights to live in a free country is one thing, but drugs are illegal in the whole country as well. It isn't a right if it is illegal. Quit the whining. "

" Yes, rather than allow people to do what they are going to do to have fun, in an isolated spot away from others who don't enjoy that music and camaraderie and strictly time-limited fun...let's continue to have tons of taverns, drunk driving every day and night, uncontrolled keg parties, locals throwing beercans on our roadsides every damn day, fights, domestic abuse, trashed livers, heart disease and so on. No one is forcing all the gasbags in Jackson County to be so stupid either. "

" Don't people have rights anymore? I thought we were past the days where police could pull someone over because of how they look. I find it interesting that of the 31 cars they claim to have pulled over (I was at the festival and know for a fact they pulled over more than 31 cars), they only found drugs in 11 of those cars. And they weren't pulling over everyone, they were profiling and pulling over only those cars they thought they could find drugs in. These statistics reflect what was going on inside the festival--the vast majority of attendees were not doing anything illegal! I feel bad for all the innocent people who got harassed because of how they look, there's a word for this: discrimination. And maybe nobody noticed, but there was not one drunk driving arrest linked to the festival. Why would somebody drive around impaired when they have a tent they can go sleep in? But don't worry Jackson County, I doubt these peaceful gatherers will be back in the future, not for Effit Fest or any other festival that may have been thinking of coming to the area (who do, by the way, buy plenty of gas, food, ice, and other camping supplies in our county). This will leave our police force free to deal with the drunk driving and the fighting that happens here on a daily basis. "

" Way to go Jackson County police. You should arrest more people like this and get them out of our county. Maybe this will send a message to all of the "hippies" and drug abusers that think they can come here for a good time and not get caught. Wasn't EFFIT music festival held at camp NCN last summer? "

" It was a drug trap and guess who brought the drugs... the dopers/hippies/useless people that attend these events did. What kind of revenue do they bring to the county? They bring all needed items with them. Food, drink, drugs etc. They did leave things like cars, van, cash and the dope that they were caught with so that may help at the next sheriffs sale.
Nobody is forcing these people to come to Jackson County to get stupid. They can just stay home and slowly run their own county into the ground. "

" just some hippies getting high in the woods? Hippies using more than pot. High on LSD and Ecstasy and then driving on our roads? How in the world are they any different than a drunk driver.
The point is, they may be out in the woods getting high, but it is illegal, therefore, no I don't expect the police to leave them alone. And frankly, if they are so stupid as to do drugs and carry them around and hit the road, they have it coming. I am so sick of the drug users hitting our town. Why? Because our county has the most lax departments for enforcing the busting of drug users and dealers. After all, there were a whole group of cocaine dealers living right downtown in BRF and the police got them, but our former DA got them sprung from jail. That was awesome of her, let them out to continue their selling to the young people and older people in our community. Putting the rest of us at risk. This isn't about them and what they want to do. They may want to sit around and do up their LSD and fly higher than a kite. So be it, but when they get busted there is no complaining about it. They know it is illegal and take that chance. Get over it, surely they have and have moved on to do more lsd and not care about this recent charge. These fest claim no drug use, but can't figure out why people don't buy their words. This is why and I have no time for drug users. Hippies and drugs. Great excuse. "

" ...good bye drug freaks! A few less drunk drivers and strung out users on the road won't hurt our economy in Jackson County one bit! "

" stop doing this to them, its a bunch of hippies getting high in the woods. not hurting anyone leave them alone. their not forcing the citizens or visitors of Jackson County to do the drugs.

Leave them alone!!

plus you have to have a reason to pull them over, did they? "

" It was the first time that Effit Fest was held in Jackson County and very possilbly the last. As Jackson County made a point of arresting everybody they could, it was almost like a drug trap. Good Bye revenue. "