"She is what you call collateral damage in the drug war,"

[Morning Dew]

http://www.startribune.com/local/127660733.html

12 days in jail over a faulty drug test.

In April, Janet Goodin of Warroad, Minn., was crossing into Canada for an evening of bingo with her daughters when an officer with the Canadian Border Service conducted a routine search of her van. The officer found an old bottle of motor oil, did a field test and told her that it contained heroin.

"I can't even describe the feeling of amazement," Goodin, 66, said in an interview. "I said, 'That's not possible, it's leftover oil.'"

The bottle was re-tested, and agents said it again revealed the presence of heroin. Goodin was arrested, handcuffed and taken to jail, where she was strip-searched. The motor oil was sent to a Canadian federal laboratory, which eventually determined there was no heroin in it. After 12 days behind bars, Goodin was released.

Goodin's case has been seized upon by critics who question the reliability of field drug-test kits, which are used widely by law enforcement.

Can this craziness end someday soon?

[villager]

1. well, given that no change we can believe in is in the works -- we will need alternate means

...of demanding such nonsense cease.

I hope, meanwhile, the woman is planning to sue the shit out of the pigs.

[Odin2005]

2. Fuck, that's not too far from here!

[Morning Dew]

4. Like she says : If it could happen to me, it could happen to anybody

and if those filed test kits are unreliable... it probably has happened to others.

[upi402]

5. it's closer to all of us

than it should be.

I want my country back...

[dixiegrrrrl]

9. It was Canada that threw her in jail, as i read it.

Maybe I read wrong?

[Gormy Cuss]

12. THIS instance was Canada, but innocent people are penalized every day in the U.S.

based on faulty field drug tests.

Here's another scary story from further down in the article, for example:

In 2008, a Canadian couple who have a homemade chocolate business, Ron Obadia and Nadine Artemis, were detained by Canadian border agents and then the U.S. border patrol after they were told their chocolate tested positive for marijuana. Both times, after many hours, they were released. They said they bought the same test kits to test their own chocolate and other brands, including Hershey. The tests detected marijuana in all of them.

[begin_within]

3. Oh I thought from the title this would be another Bachmann thread.

[Shagbark Hickory]

6. Important to point out this was Canada's fuckup.

Congratulations on your fuckup, canada.

[RainDog]

7. guilty until proven innocent?

what a nightmare.

we're in a police state frame of mind and anyone could be (and, obviously, was) denied her civil rights based upon policy that is a 40 plus year record of failure.

[ZombieHorde]

8. I absolutely hate the war on drugs. nt

[ImOnOne]

10. wow

just say no to the drug war

[tammywammy]

11. Those Canadians are harsh. n/t

[d_r]

13. honest question

what happens if a US citizen is jailed in canada for 12 days, loses their job, can't pay bills and so on? Is there any recourse?

[Morning Dew]

14. No idea. Good question.

[Name removed]

15. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Morning Dew]

16. But wait - aren't you a narc yourself?

:rofl:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

17. Life in Corpmerica. NAFTA rules.

x(