Ostensibly in response to questionable claims that drug kingpins are moving “kilos of cocaine or large amounts of heroin” on San Francisco’s Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system, drug-sniffing dogs are now patrolling one of San Francisco’s primary forms of public transportation. The controversial program, which involves both BART police officers and U.S. Customs Service agents, has yet to yield any kilos of cocaine, but rather numerous petty marijuana citations. The program, which began last week, has outraged civil libertarians and medical marijuana patients. BART police contend that they will not arrest anyone with identification as a medical marijuana user under Proposition 215, but the dogs themselves are handled by federal Customs agents. The federal government, under the leadership of U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, has recently taken time out from the war on terrorism to get tough on California medical marijuana clubs that supply cancer and AIDS patients with medical marijuana.

“It’s unconstitutional,” said San Francisco attorney John Heller, who has worked on American Civil Liberties Union cases involving random drug-sniffing dog sweeps in public schools. “A dog sniff is a search of a person under the Fourth Amendment, and you can’t do that unless you have some particularized suspicion a person has contraband on them.” Not surprisingly, BART police claim they have not received any complaints from the recreational marijuana users most affected by the new policy, though passengers have suggested that bomb-sniffing dogs might be more appropriate. “I think it sends a terrible message at a time our civil liberties are already under siege.” Heller said. “I’m certainly looking forward to challenging the program on BART if there are passengers interested in pursing such a challenge.” Critics of the drug-sniffing dog policy contend that the latest government intrusion on privacy in the name of the drug war is yet another example of drug warriors maximizing harm. Recreational marijuana users who previously relied on public transit to avoid driving while high now have an incentive to get behind the wheel of the their car instead.