BOTCHED DRUG RAID NOT A SURPRISE

Your Feb. 16 article about the drug raid in Muskego, "Woman in botched bust
says she'll get legal counsel," was shocking, but no surprise.

The raid illustrates you don't have to be involved with illegal drugs to
get caught up in our nation's failed war on some drugs. The treatment Sue
Wilson received at the hands of the raiding party that stormed her home is
an everyday occurrence. Prohibitionist propaganda has made it acceptable to
demonize illegal drug users in much the same way the Nazis demonized the
Jews. It made it OK to terrorize Sue Wilson until they realized they had
the wrong address.

It will take a long time to put the terror she endured behind her. At least
she didn't get shot, like other civilians caught in the crossfire. Even
patients who use medical marijuana to regain a little quality of life are
fair game. Taxpayers are also in the crossfire, paying tens of billions
each year to wage war on their fellow Americans, and they'll be paying to
settle this, too.

These are not isolated incidents. A quick search of the archives of the
Media Awareness Project (www.mapinc.org) turned up hundreds of news
articles about drug raids gone bad.

This "Berlin Wall" of the drug war threatens everyone's civil liberties.
Drug war exemptions have gutted our Constitution and Bill of Rights. It is
time for the wall to come down.

Gary Storck

Madison