Police to target youths in city centre crackdown (Scotland)

[Lunar Loops]

OK, so they are trying to promote sensible drinking, find weapons and prevent late-night violence (by and large alcohol fuelled).....so why the sniffer dogs to hunt out drugs on nightclub goers? They are not the most likely candidates to be involved in late night violence. Anyway, this from The Glasgow Herald (http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/76313.html) :

Police to target youths in city centre crackdown
BRIAN DONNELLY

Police with drug sniffer dogs will target nightclub queues this weekend to make city centres across Scotland safer.
Lothian and Borders Police have linked up with Edinburgh City Council with a range of initiatives to combat alcohol-related youth violence and disorder.
There will also be "gateway checks" and the seizure of alcohol and weapons from youths during early evenings on main routes into Edinburgh as part of a £60,000 Scottish Executive-funded initiative.
Chief Superintendent George Simpson, of Lothian and Borders Police and the commander for the city of Edinburgh, made a plea to youths: "Make sure you enjoy alcohol sensibly and if you are out with friends, look after each other. We will be carrying out spot checks at various clubs across the city for people carrying drugs and if you don't want to get caught — don't carry them."
Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen are deploying transport marshalls in the run-up to the party season to cut violence and disruption at late-night hotspots and shepherd revellers into taxis and buses.
And Glasgow City Council has entered discussions with NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to add a mobile medical unit to give first aid to pub and club customers.
Glasgow will have an average of 60 officers on duty at peak times over the festive season.
Aberdeen also has marshalls who have no power of arrest but are equipped with radios to contact the police.
There will also be a covert police and council operation to tackle alcohol-related crime and disorder in known youth hangouts, including early-evening alcohol seizures at known underage drinking haunts. A mobile CCTV unit will support city-centre operations and provide coverage for Aberdeen's George Street.

[Darksanity]

Can dogs detects MDMA or Methamphetamine?

[darawk]

Oh look, alcohol related violence is a huge problem for our country - let's crack down on drugs. I wonder who lobbied for this initiative...the alcohol industry, perhaps? However, the good thing about methamphetamine, if you have it in pill form is that it's a prescription drug(in the U.S. at least)...so what's a cop going to say if you tell him you've got a prescription for it? It's not like you have to carry around your scrips with you.

@Darksanity: yes.

[Nagognog2]

Yes you do. If you have pills and they are not in the correct prescription container - you can be charged in the USA. Remember: Guilty until proven innocent. You can show them the container later. But it's still illegal to transport the drugs outside their original container. You might be selling them to kiddies down by the schoolyard!