A former Texas narcotics officer, hailed as one of the best in his profession, has produced a video that aims to help people avoid getting caught with drugs when stopped by police, the Tyler Morning Telegraph reported Dec. 21.

The video, "Never Get Busted Again," was produced by Barry Cooper, a former antidrug officer in Gladewater and Big Sandy. Cooper said that he thinks marijuana should be legalized and that the War on Drugs is destroying families and filling prisons with nonviolent offenders.

"I know I won't be accepted by my peers here ... but in other areas of the country I will be celebrated," he said. "When I was raiding houses and destroying families, my conscience was telling me it was wrong, but my need for power, fame and peer acceptance overshadowed my good conscience."

Cooper's video includes tips on how to conceal a drug stash and fool drug-sniffing dogs. Smith County Deputy Constable Mark Waters, a drug interdiction officer, called it "an embarrassment to all law-enforcement officers across the United States, who put their life on the line every day. This is a slap in the face to all that we do to uphold the laws and keep the public safe."

Tom Finley, Cooper's former commander on the Permian Basin Drug Task Force, said Cooper was "probably the best narcotics officer in the state and maybe the country during his time with the task force." But, he said, "I'm definitely not in agreement with what he is doing here and I am all for getting the drug offenders off the streets and putting them behind bars."