WAR ON DRUGS, WAR ON GOVERNMENT

Draconian laws do little to curb America's drug appetite. Did we
learn nothing from Ruby Ridge and Waco? Will Rainbow Farm become the
next byword for excessive government force against people who don't
share our beliefs?

We hope not. But it is not hard to see that, in our zeal to eradicate
drug use, we are abandoning some of the ideals of progressive
democracy. Drugs are harmful to individuals and society. We do not
support the legalization of either "soft" drugs like marijuana, or
"hard" drugs like cocaine or heroin.

But after watching events unfold at Rainbow Farm in Vandalia last
week, in which two advocates of marijuana use are dead and the
campground burned to the ground, we are beginning to wonder if this
nation's War on Drugs is becoming a War on Drug Users.

Some are already likening Rainbow Farm to Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and
Waco, Texas, where federal agents have been accused of using
excessive force in the deaths of people defying the government.

Grover "Tom" Crosslin and his companion Rolland Rohm were shot to
death by law enforcement officers after Crosslin and Rohm allegedly
pointed guns at them, perhaps a kind of suicide by cop.

Crosslin and Rohm, who were vocal advocates of marijuana and hemp
use, had a right to free speech and to call for marijuana
legalization. As far as is known, until a week ago Friday the two men
were peaceful advocates who hosted concerts and festivals at the
campground property.

Unfortunately, their operation went beyond that.

They ran a campground, Rainbow Farm, where, according to undercover
investigators, drugs and drug paraphernalia could be purchased and
used, and where minors had used drugs. Investigators said Crosslin and
Rohm had been growing marijuana under artificial lights in a basement.

And they did it all quite blatantly, almost daring the government to
do something about it.

The government did. But it was like killing a rodent with a bazooka.

The government prosecuted the men on drug charges, won the forfeiture
of Crosslin's property and had Rohm's minor son removed to foster
care before the confrontation came to a head last Friday.

It was the end of Crosslin and Rohm as peaceful marijuana advocates
and the beginning of their violent end. Instead of attending a court
hearing Friday on his drug charges, Crosslin instead began burning
buildings on his property. Shots were fired, possibly by Crosslin or
Rohm, at an undercover police helicopter over the Rainbow Farms
property and at a news helicopter.

In the end, it appears Crosslin chose to end his own life Monday by
pointing a weapon at officers, certainly knowing officers would gun
him down. Rohm chose the same fate for himself the next day.

A generation after Woodstock, when young people thought drugs were a
harmless diversion and a youth culture glorified drug use, we are
older and wiser now. We have no illusions about the toll drugs have
taken on individuals, on neighborhoods and on society.

And yet our draconian War on Drugs has been unsuccessful. No matter
how much property is seized, no matter how many drug users are thrown
in prison, Americans' craving for drugs continues.

There are other weapons, besides an iron cudgel, to combat drug use.
Treatment, as is offered through Kalamazoo County's drug court,
instead of knee-jerk imprisonment, is proving to be successful.
America's jails and prisons now hold a record number of people,
largely because of zero-tolerance drug policies. It is time to
rethink a policy that treats drug use with jail time instead of
treatment.

It also is time to retool property seizure laws, which some have
described as unduly harsh and others have claimed border on being
unconstitutional.

Crosslin and Rohm flouted drug laws for years and needed to be
penalized. It is not a stretch to say they chose their own fate.

But the outcome of this War on Drugs two men dead and Rainbow Farm in
ashes has left a community traumatized.

And, in the end, it could add Rainbow Farm to the list of incidents
that have become justification for those with twisted minds who want
to wage their own War On Government.