DUI Checkpoints Now Include Mouth Swabs that Can Tell If You Smoked Pot Days Ago

San Diego, CA – On St. Patrick’s Day, California’s southernmost metropolis decided to debut a roadside test for those suspected of driving under the influence of cannabis. Several “sobriety checkpoints” were set up throughout the city with the standard invasions of privacy, but this time they added a mouth swab test known as the Drager 5000.

If a cop suspects a driver of being high, they request that he or she take the mouth swab test, and perhaps a field sobriety test as well. They’re trying to gather evidence to incriminate you, although the mouth swab test is not mandatory.

The Drager 5000, already in use in other countries and cities such as Los Angeles and New York, detects the presence of various substances, including THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. The problem is, this test has absolutely zero ability to test actual impairment or level of intoxication.

But a positive reading can give cops the excuse for the more invasive procedure of a blood test. According to The San Diego Union-Tribune:

“Officers trained to recognize the symptoms of drug impairment will first look for various indicators that a driver is high, from an unsafe driving maneuver to bloodshot eyes to the odor of marijuana to blank stares, San Diego police Officer Emilio Ramirez said. Once there is ample suspicion of drug use, the officer can then request to perform field sobriety tests or for a driver to take the Dräger 5000 test.

If the driver refuses at that point, the officer can force the person to submit to a blood test.

To use the machine, the driver is handed a mouth swab and instructed to run it around the inside of the mouth for up to four minutes. The swab is then placed into the machine, along with a vial of testing solution, and the machine does its work. It takes about six to eight minutes for results to print out on a receipt.

A positive result will likely send the driver to a police phlebotomist for a blood test to determine precise drug levels.”

Even a negative result could lead to a mandatory blood test if the officer still suspects impairment.

“If the mouth swab test is negative but the officer still has a suspicion of impairment, then a blood draw might still be mandated, because the Dräger 5000 only measures for seven kinds of narcotics, Ramirez said.”

And if you can’t make bail, you’ll be sitting in jail for weeks or months awaiting the blood test results. For many people, this would mean being fired from their job, or being ripped away from their family, or some other life-altering repercussion – all because a cop invaded your privacy at an unconstitutional roadblock.

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The Drager 5000 can give positive results for THC even if the person did not even use cannabis that day. If it’s legal to use cannabis – as in California – and the swab test can detect THC from days prior, there is absolutely no rationale for deploying the machine. Despite the fact that someone can be perfectly sober and still test positive, this “evidence” is admissible in court.

San Diego Police Chief Shelley Zimmerman played on fears over legalization to justify their fancy new $6,000 machines, saying, “It’s a huge concern of ours with the legalization of marijuana that we’re going to see an increase in impaired drugged driving.”

The funny thing is, results from St. Patrick’s Day field sobriety checkpoints showed a decrease in the number of DUI arrests. At one checkpoint, six people were arrested, down from nearly a dozen the year before.

One person was going to submit to the mouth swab test for cannabis, but the ordeal gave him an anxiety attack that required medical attention. The cops went ahead and arrested him for DUI afterward.

“We did have one person, who was going to submit a test, but unfortunately had some sort of anxiety attack in secondary to the point where we actually had to get medical attention for him and then later arrested him for DUI,” said Officer Mark McCollough.

Clearly, the Drager 5000 mouth swab test serves no actual purpose in addressing impaired driving but is just another tool of the police state being rationalized by the legalization of cannabis.

WATCH: How to Go Through a DUI Checkpoint Like a Pro — in Less than 30 Seconds

New Haven, CT — DUI checkpoints are an unfortunate reality in the ostensible land of the free. Luckily, there are still people in this country who choose to assert their rights and challenge this tyrannical and constitutional-violating police state racket.

Michael Picard is a champion of freedom and has no fear when it comes to challenging the police state. On numerous occasions, the Free Thought Project has reported on Picard’s endeavors in flexing his liberties. He’s even been picked up by the ACLU after recording police attempting to falsely charge him.

And now, Picard is at it again in his most recent video of rights flexing. This time, he’s driving through a DUI checkpoint he had just protested.

“We were protesting the checkpoint with signs reading, ‘cops ahead."” Picard told the Free Thought Project of his activism before going through the checkpoint. Then, Picard and his friends had to drive through the checkpoint they’d just been protesting in order to go home.

“We were heading home and had to go through the checkpoint in order to get onto the highway,” Picard explains.

That’s when the video began.

As the car rolls up to the checkpoint, the officer asks for Picard’s license, to which Picard replies, “Why?”

“This is a DUI checkpoint,” the officer replies. Then, something awesome happens.

When the officer sees the camera coupled with the fact that Picard is not immediately curtseying to his command, he realizes that ‘It’s a trap.’ The officer, choosing not to attempt to have to justify the reason for the unconstitutional stop, then lets the car go.

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Just like that, they were let through a DUI checkpoint with no search, seizure, or otherwise any inconvenience. Rights = Flexed.

Sobriety checkpoints — also known as DUI checkpoints — are the most common roadblocks you might encounter. They function as a general purpose investigatory tactic where police can get a close look at passing motorists by detaining them briefly. A roadblock stop is quick, but it gives police a chance to check tags and licenses, while also giving officers a quick whiff of the driver’s breath and a chance to peer into the vehicle for a moment.

Remember that your constitutional rights still apply in a roadblock situation. Though police are permitted to stop you briefly, they may not search you or your car unless they have probable cause that you’re under the influence, or you agree to the search. As such, you are not required to answer their questions or admit to breaking the law.

Because courts have upheld the tyrannical practice of stopping anyone and everyone, regardless of guilt, does not mean that it is just.

Because of the unjust nature of DUI and Driver’s license checkpoints, individuals from coast to coast have formed an entire realm of activism known as DUI or Checkpoint refusal. For years, the Free Thought Project has been covering this form of activism and promoting the brave men and women who dare stand up to the police state. Thank you, Michael Picard, for being one of those people.

Matt Agorist is an honorably discharged veteran of the USMC and former intelligence operator directly tasked by the NSA. This prior experience gives him unique insight into the world of government corruption and the American police state. Agorist has been an independent journalist for over a decade and has been featured on mainstream networks around the world. Agorist is also the Editor at Large at the Free Thought Project. Follow @MattAgorist on Twitter, Steemit, and now on Facebook.