Young people going undercover in war on drugs

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Lawyers, parents attack use of small-time drug offenders as confidential informants for law enforcement

Rachel Hoffman, 23, was caught by police with five ounces of marijuana and a few ecstasy and Valium pills. The authorities offered her a deal: they wouldn't charge her for a crime that could send her to jail, they said, if she helped law enforcement bring down some bigger dealers. With no undercover experience, she agreed to become a confidential informant. She was murdered in the course of a drug deal she did under law enforcement direction. Hoffman's story is part of a Lesley Stahl investigation into the controversial use of young, small-time drug dealers as untrained undercover informants in the war on drugs. It will be broadcast on 60 Minutes, Sunday, Dec. 6 at 7 p.m. ET/PT.

Lance Block is a lawyer in Tallahassee, FL, where the Hoffman tragedy happened. He represents her family. "It's...

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