A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

At what point is the war on drugs not worth fighting? The Dane County
District Attorney's Office recently ducked one skirmish when it
declined to prosecute a 26-year-old African American man pulled over
by Madison police for driving around past 1 a.m. in open possession
of...an air freshener. According to Officer Pedro Ortega-Mendoza's
report, the man was "driving in a proper manner indicating every turn
made. I also observed there was a vehicle fresher hanging from the
visor." Police followed the man for about ten minutes, then pulled him
over. Ortega-Mendoza told the driver "that the reason for my stop was
because he had a car freshener hanging from the visor." Also, he
appeared to be driving in circles.

The cops asked permission to search the car and the man purportedly
consented. They found a "green leafy substance" later deemed to be two
grams (about 1/14 of an ounce) of marijuana. The man was handcuffed
and taken to jail.

But Assistant District Attorney Ken Farmer kicked the case when he
read the officer's report. "Suppression/public policy grounds," he
wrote on the intake form. "While I understand that stopping a car for
technical traffic violations is a necessary part of drug enforcement,
I don't believe I can justify such tactics in court when it comes to
an air freshener hanging from a visor. I think at a certain point we
must draw the line." District Attorney Brian Blanchard believes this
search would have been upheld in court ("I don't think this was an
unlawful stop") but says the case lacked prosecutorial merit, due in
part to the small quantity of drugs involved. His office has raised
the quantity of pot that triggers criminal possession charges from
seven to 25 grams; smaller amounts are commonly charged as ordinance
violations.

Note to stoners: carry less than an ounce and lose the air freshener.