Pubdate: Mon, 24 Nov 2014
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2014 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Robert Sharpe
Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v14/n885/a02.html
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/af.htm (Asset Forfeiture)

DRUG-FREE OR LAND OF FREE?

Thank you for making the case for civil forfeiture reform in your recent 
editorial ("Time for civil-forfeiture reform," Web, Nov. 17). Right now, 
police can confiscate cars, cash and homes without charging owners with 
a crime. Vague allegations of drug trafficking don't justify turning 
protectors of the peace into financial predators. The drug war threatens 
the integrity of a country founded on the concept of limited government.

Warrantless government surveillance, drug-sniffing dogs in schools and 
random drug testing have led to a loss of civil liberties while failing 
at preventing drug use. A majority of European Union countries have 
decriminalized marijuana. Despite marijuana prohibition and perhaps 
because of "forbidden-fruit" appeal, lifetime use of marijuana is higher 
in the United States than it is in any European country.

The "land of the free" now has the highest incarceration rate in the 
world, in large part due to the war on non-corporate drugs. This is big 
government at its worst. It's not possible to wage a moralistic war 
against consensual vices unless privacy - along with the U.S. 
Constitution - is completely eliminated. America can either be a free 
country or a "drug-free" country, but not both.

ROBERT SHARPE

Policy analyst Common Sense for Drug Policy Washington
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