Kevin Glaser, the retired Missouri Drug Task Force cop who ranted on Facebook about marijuana legalization advocates, calling them stupid welfare leeches, isn't backing down.
"To me, Facebook's there to put your opinion on, and I wouldn't retract a word about it," he tells the Southeast Missourian.
Glaser, who has received government paychecks for 28 years for busting people with drugs, including marijuana, while openly frequenting bars and distilleries, also refused to take back the "welfare" comment, in which he says "Tomorrow I go back to fight crime, and they go back to collecting their welfare check..."
His excuse was that he was speaking from experience.
"That's what I deal with every day," Glaser, who has been retired since 2011, tells the paper. "More times than not, when we get involved with people who are abusing drugs, there's probably a welfare check coming in the mail for them."
The article did not cite any statistics that backed up Glaser's claims. Daily RFT has reached out to Glaser multiple times for comment, but have yet to receive a response.
Despite his open disdain for people who advocate for the legalization of marijuana, Glaser indicated he has some leniency toward their cause.
"If you want to smoke a joint in the privacy of your own home, I don't really care, as long as you don't come out and cause me a problem," he tells the Southeast Missourian.
After the Facebook comments came out, Show-Me Cannabis executive director John Payne invited Glaser to a debate about the pros and cons of legalization, but Glaser has yet to give a definitive answer, telling the paper that there are people "better-suited" than he to take on the task.
Despite his humble attitude about his debating skills, Glaser is a high-ranking member of the Missouri Narcotics Officers Association, "an association whereby police officers in narcotic law enforcement could network and share resources."
The group conducts training for Missouri narcotics officers and holds conferences annually. It also lobbies for more money for drug cops.
In addition to training and conferences, the MNOA is a member of the National Narcotics Officers' Association Coalition, which was established in 1994 "as part of an effort to re-establish the Edward R. Byrne Memorial Fund," the group's website says.
Ensuring the Byrne Fund "is fully funded in order to maintain the multi-jurisdictional drug task forces, which are the backbone of narcotics law enforcement," is listed as the NNOAC's main goal.
However, Byrne grants for drug task forces state-wide have been cut in recent years. And in 2008, Glaser was quoted in the Sikeston Standard Democrat that the grants were a "life line" for narcotics officers:
Kevin Glaser, SEMO Drug Task Force supervisor, said earmark appropriations in the past for the drug task force "have been absolutely critical in our continued effort."The SEMO Drug Task Force has typically received $237,000 of its $600,000 budget from the Byrne grants, according to Glaser.
Keeping the Byrne grants going along with earmark funding "keeps us really combating the problem at the level that we are. ... That's our life line. Unfortunately there's not any state funding mechanisms really in place to take over if we lose those. ... There is no better concept than the multijurisdictional drug task force."
Daily RFT reached out to the MNOA and NNOAC for comment as to whether Glaser's Facebook remarks reflect those of the group. We'll update when we get a response.
Follow Ray Downs on Twitter at @RayDowns. E-mail the author at [email protected].
