RAIDING LEGITIMATE SHOPS IS A WASTE OF TAXPAYER'S MONEY

This letter is in response to the article "Cops raid shops for
'paraphernalia' " (March 19) in which two Anchorage shopkeepers were
treated like criminals for merely selling various bongs and pipes.

In a day when our government stretches the budget as far as it can go, our
police officers are wasting time and money to hurt the very citizens that
they are hired to protect.

The police seized thousands of dollars of molded glass and metal from one
shop, and now its owner wonders how he will pay his rent. The argument for
this ambush is that because the products being sold could be used for
ingesting drugs, they should be illegal to sell.

If someone went to a hardware store and purchased materials that he later
used to aid in his drug use, would the hardware store be at fault?

When our founding fathers sat down to write the United States Constitution,
they did so to limit government power. However today, because of the
supposed "elastic clause," our government is allowed to do whatever it wants.

Imagine a future where taxpaying citizens are forced out of legitimate
business because the government does not like it. While this happens,
another man, on the streets, will pick up a new tax-free business. This
will not help anyone except criminals.

- -- Rachael R. Wagner

Anchorage