http://www.newsmax.com/commentarchive.shtml?a01/2/9/071227

A PEACE PLAN FOR THE DRUG WAR

The combat is intense. The violence escalates. Casualties mount. There is
no end in sight. A mighty nation is at war with itself.

As in the case with many wars, this one began with belligerent rhetoric.
Initially, politicians of all stripes sought to acquire the image of tough
crime fighter. What better way to exhibit prowess than to embrace the
metaphor of war? And so politicians all over the country did, one after
another, year after year. A badge of valor was to be gained through sheer
association with the fight.

But something happened on the way to the battlegrounds. In an effort to
impress constituencies, congressional members passed a load of bills,
so-called omnibus crime bills. Buried within volumes of pages lurked
menacing language, which allowed law enforcement officials to engage in
tactics that had no place in America. Clear provisions of the Fourth and
Fifth Amendments of the Bill of Rights were suddenly disregarded.

Exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act facilitated the militarization of
police. Swat teams originally designed for hostage rescue were amply
employed for drug and weapons possession arrests. Property was confiscated
based on mere suspicion of drug involvement. Police began to engage in "no
knock" raids. In some unfortunate cases, injury or death of innocent
individuals resulted. High-tech, intrusive investigative procedures
compromised the privacy of average citizens. The crack in the Liberty Bell
grew conspicuously wide.

Then there was the matter of punishment. Mandatory minimum sentencing
stripped away judicial discretion from the process. Inequity of punishment
for criminal behavior surged. Scores of federally mandated minimum
sentences found their way into a variety of criminal statutes. Offenders
were routinely required to serve entire sentences, without the possibility
of parole. This frequently made non-violent offenders the recipients of
harsher sentences than those of rapists, robbers, arsonists or murderers.

The militarization of local police was perhaps the most serious fallout
from the war on drugs. In a free society, it is essential that a clean line
of demarcation between the function of the military and the function of
domestic law enforcement agents be steadfastly maintained. This was the
primary reason for the passage of the Posse Comitatus Act. The law served
to protect our citizens from military operations ever being directed
specifically toward them. With this infrastructure in place, local police
were able to act as peace officers, and soldiers had the task of defending
national security. But when police were forced to become a kind of
occupying military unit in the anti-drug effort, the relationship with the
local citizenry suffered immeasurably.

It seems that our nation has now become a living example of good intentions
gone horribly awry. People are ready to reexamine previously unassailable
subjects. Caution is, of course, wholly advisable because the consequences
of missteps are dire for all of society. But even more compelling is the
fact that the public innately senses that the country is standing on the
precipice of potential defeat in the drug war, and we could never abide
such a loss.

Prominent conservatives, including Milton Friedman and William F. Buckley,
Jr., have proposed legalization. Others, such as Governors George Pataki
and Gary Johnson, have advocated reform. During the 2000 presidential
campaign, George W. Bush expressed a willingness to consider substantial
changes.

With what kinds of reform should we begin? By far, the most controversial
suggestion involves partial or wholesale legalization of drugs. The
legalization alternative, if hastily adopted, could be a Pandora's box,
which once opened may release evils that would be difficult to ever again
contain.

On the other hand, reform in the area of mandatory minimum sentencing seems
completely reasonable. Modifications in this area may even help to
alleviate some of the cynicism that has developed with regard to our
justice system.

Reversal of the exceptions to the Posse Comitatus Act and elimination of
the military influence on local police forces are constructive and
essential remedies. Laws that conflict with the protection against
unreasonable searches and seizures, set forth in the Fourth Amendment, and
laws that are inconsistent with property rights protection and due process,
set forth in the Fifth Amendment, simply need to be repealed.

Equally important to reform on the legal front is emphasis on treatment and
education facets. This time around, we must be determined to be more
selective, supporting only those proposals with proven track records.

Political ideology and moral persuasion aside, it is time to acknowledge
that peace is long overdue, and reconciliation is a path we choose. We must
find commonality in our desire to restore individual liberties. We must
reach a consensus about that which is equitable when it comes to the
administration of justice. We must concur that sustenance of the
constitutional integrity of our system is vital to the strength and
longevity of freedom.

And we must agree to end the war. Victory will be defined by the peace we
fashion for the nation and the lives we jointly rescue from the spoils.