Sounds like the BIA is hunting for drug charges($). People know about the elephant in the room: there's going to be a lot of drugs at Burning Man. For police, it's like a fisherman watching a fish migration happen in front of them.
Probably? Because many are?
NOTE - this doesn't advocate for pre-emptive search and seizure in anyway, but trying to claim Burning Man is entirely "straight edge" with a straight face is ... implausible.
> And do they really think lots burners use opiates?
Opiates vs "illicit substances". I don't think they were arguing that Burning Man is straight edge, just that there isn't a large opiate presence specifically (which wouldn't surprise me).
for example, last year when i was driving from Reno to Black Rock City, i went through a well-known zone on tribal land where the speed limit goes 55->45->35->25 and then back up. it was about 1am and pitch black...so i was particularly freaked out by the unmarked, unlit police SUV aggressively tailgating me. it followed me for about a mile and then turned around when i didn't budge.
BIA is a new character, though. there's chatter that they had a DUI checkpoint setup on Monday (the event starts this upcoming sunday). the tactics are roughly the same but the infractions seem more minor than in the past. local police were pretty happy to collect speeding tickets.