Annapolis (MD) police chief cites hoax story in opposition to marijuana legalization

[charlie and algernon]

Source: Capital Gazette

Testifying against bills proposed in Maryland to legalize and decriminalize marijuana, Annapolis Police Chief Michael Pristoop cited a hoax story that claimed 37 people died the first day marijuana was legalized in Colorado.

"The first day of legalization, that's when Colorado experienced 37 deaths that day from overdose on marijuana," Pristoop said in testimony at Tuesday's Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee hearing. "I remember the first day it was decriminalized there were 37 deaths."

But Sen. Jamie Raskin, D-Montgomery, who has proposed a bill that would legalize, regulate and tax the drug, immediately fact-checked Pristoop.

"Unless you have some other source for this, I'm afraid I've got to spoil the party here," Raskin said. "Your assertion that 37 people died of a marijuana overdose in Colorado was a hoax on the DailyCurrant and the Comedy Central website."

Indeed, Pristoop was apparently referring to a hoax story by the satirical website DailyCurrant.com, which reportedly fooled some people with the headline "Marijuana Overdoses Kill 37 in Colorado on First Day of Legalization."


Read more: http://www.capitalgazette.com/blogs/under_the_dome/annapolis-police-chief-cites-hoax-story-in-opposition-to-marijuana/article_97c304e5-b485-5981-9197-9b5f9f5f97e7.html

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oops.

[DeSwiss]

1. He might have died of embarassment......

...but he'd have to be self-aware first. Poor thing. Probably breathed-in too much gunpowder smoke when he was younger.

- Don't laugh too hard, these are the people we entrust lethal weapons to.

K&R

[jtuck004]

2. Isn't that perjury? n/t

[elleng]

7. No, 'perjury' =

'the deliberate, willful giving of false, misleading, or incomplete testimony under oath.' so this was not perjury unless he KNEW it was not true. Sounds like this was just IGNORANT.

[jtuck004]

16. A police chief, head of a department that answers to one of the top elected officials was so stupid

that he couldn't recognize that headlines such as:

Justin Bieber Rushed to Hospital Following First Erection
Court Orders Justin Bieber to Stop Making Music
Woman Kills Three For Last X-Box at Chicago Wal-Mart
Ann Coulter On Syria: ‘Why is Gassing Arabs a Bad Thing?’
Todd Starnes Vandalizes Washington Monument for Latin Phrase
Sarah Palin Volunteers to Fight ‘Labian Extremists’
Bill Nye Blasts Todd Akin, Challenges ‘F**king Idiot’ to Debate
‘Fat Bird Stuffed with S**T’, GOP Criticized for More Anti-Hillary Buttons
Sarah Palin Arrives in South Korea for Mandela Memorial
Canada Legalizes Medicinal Cocaine
Kanye West: ‘I’m More Important’ Than Rosa Parks
Police Find Penis Enlargement Pills in Justin Bieber’s Car
White Women Are the World’s Worst Mothers White Women Are the World’s Wo…
Obamacare Death Panel Orders First ExecutionObamacare Death Panel Orders …

Might, just possibly, not be legitimate?

(Ok, I'll give him this one: "Court Orders Justin Bieber to Stop Making Music". But that's all).

He's a police chief, head of a department that answers to one of the top elected officials, and in his entire career has never come across a competent authority that said marijuana has ever killed anyone, yet one day he reads some part of such a site as this and thinks it's so credible that he provides it as testimony to a serious group of people discussing a serious problem.

Is the whole fucking state of Maryland a bunch of morons? They pay this fool to be in charge of people who carry guns around their children?

Hey,Maryland - this is for you...





A whole state full of morons...

Your explanation "'the deliberate, willful giving of false, misleading, or incomplete testimony" goes into state of mind, which I am guessing needs to be corroborated by something else, since we can't view state of mind.

And his testimony, from a police chief, head of a department, in charge of people whose very response during emergencies of all kinds mean the difference between life and death gives testimony that contradicts every year of experience he has had...

That sure seems like perjury to me, but yeah...

But as far as I am concerned he makes every police office in a uniform in that state look like an utter fool, and the citizens around them even more ignorant.

[elleng]

17. No, thanks, jtuck004, the whole state of Maryland is not full of morons.

Surprised me hugely that Chief @ Annapolis, the State capitol, but after all, Spiro Agnew was governor a 'few' years ago, but we're in much better shape these days.

[jtuck004]

18. If you say so. But since that's who they hire with their tax money, I would need more info to come

to a different conclusion. It's the freakin' capital city of the damn state, which I will always take as emblematic of a larger group.

[elleng]

19. Holy crap, even worse than it appears,

Chief Pristoop holds a BS in Jurisprudence from the University of Baltimore and a JD from the University of Baltimore, School of Law, earning high honors with both degrees. He is a member of the Maryland Bar, the Heuisler Honor Society, Maryland Chiefs of Police Association, and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. Chief Pristoop is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, 215th Session, and is credited with a professional publication. Beyond all, his greatest joy and accomplishment is being the father of two wonderful children, Taylor and Alex.



Obviously he wasn't paying attention!!!

[jtuck004]

20. And he didn't know he was providing at least misleading, if not outright false testimony?

Sounds like he is a liar as well.

And they trust him? I wonder if there is a departmental policy against lying? I know it's a crime in most jurisdictions for a civilian to lie to an officer, and he knows that.

Not an innocent act, I don't think. But that's just me

[Ash_F]

21. I don't know, those look pretty legit to me. /nt

[marble falls]

3. An expert opinion on the chief:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=C_Kh7nLplWo

[Comrade Grumpy]

4. Why are cops supposed to be experts on drugs, anyway?

Because they arrest drug users and sellers?

Cops also deal with domestic violence, but that doesn't make them experts on relationships, as the statistics on their own divorce and domestic violence rates will testify.

[Scuba]

10. An excellent point that will be lost on most observers.

[LiberalFighter]

11. Totally agree.

If cops were such great experts they wouldn't be screwing up so much.

[frylock]

5. these fucking idiots think that we're fucking idiots

[Downwinder]

6. From the DailyCurrant:

"According to a report in the Rocky Mountain News, 37 people were killed across the state on Jan. 1, the first day the drug became legal for all adults to purchase. Several more are clinging onto life in local emergency rooms and are not expected to survive."
http://dailycurrant.com/2014/01/02/marijuana-overdoses-kill-37-in-colorado-on-first-day-of-legalization/

FWIW The Rocky Mountain News closed in Feb. 2009.

[Timez Squarez]

12. Yup.

They just had a reunion last week of former Rocky staff..

[sakabatou]

8. What an idiot

[jmowreader]

9. He should have googled a couple of the other conditions it causes

Trimethylaminuria is also called "fish odor syndrome." It causes the sufferer to smell like a dead fish, but otherwise creates no problems. (Yes, I know smelling like a dead fish is problem enough.)

Hypospadias is a birth defect in which the...in crude terms, the hole in the end of your dick the urine comes out of...is formed on the underside of it.

[SwankyXomb]

13. That man is too dumb to live

and just smart enough to be a cop.

[Garion_55]

14. LOL!!! love this part of the phoney story....

One of the those victims was 29-year-old Jesse Bruce Pinkman, a former methamphetamine dealer from Albuquerque who had recently moved to Boulder to establish a legal marijuana dispensary.

Pinkman was partying with friends when he suffered several seizures and a massive heart attack which ultimately proved to be fatal. Toxicology reports revealed that marijuana was the only drug present in his system.

"This is just a terrible tragedy," says his friend Peter. "Jesse was trying to go legit and now this happens? I guess drugs really are as dangerous as they say."






holy crap cops are stupid

[MisterP]

23. a cop who doesn't watch BB?

[deutsey]

26. Further evidence that critical reading/thinking skills are becoming a lost art n/t

[KurtNYC]

27. Perhaps it would have helped if the fake story was funny but that he believed that one could OD on

pot is pretty naive for a cop, especially.

[pacog]

15. Bad cop no donut

n/m

[RobertEarl]

22. This is from the Onion, right?

It can't be true. No one is that stupid. Especially not a top cop.

[mainer]

24. "Jesse Pinkman" one of the OD victims

One of the those victims was 29-year-old Jesse Bruce Pinkman, a former methamphetamine dealer from Albuquerque who had recently moved to Boulder to establish a legal marijuana dispensary.

Pinkman was partying with friends when he suffered several seizures and a massive heart attack which ultimately proved to be fatal. Toxicology reports revealed that marijuana was the only drug present in his system.

"This is just a terrible tragedy," says his friend Peter. "Jesse was trying to go legit and now this happens? I guess drugs really are as dangerous as they say."

OMG, the Daily Currant piece is a hoot. And this police chief is a moron.

[seveneyes]

25. This moron should be fired and any drug cases he testified on nullified

A group of lawyers need to do what it takes to remove this scourge of justice. Voters should be outraged.

[LibertyLover]

28. That's our police chief

The man is an embarassment and a fool.