FORFEITURE LAWS

Jerry Heaster's current attack on the "war on drugs" surrounds forfeiture
laws (6/10, Business). While there are scattered abuses, this law hits drug
dealers where it hurts, their bank accounts. Rather than criticizing police
for using forfeiture funds, we should applaud them for holding down tax
subsidies of law enforcement.

The drug war is a good financial deal. Estimates on the annual costs to
society of illegal drugs alone range between $70-$100 billion. Some
estimates suggest that without our restrictive drug policy, the costs to
society could range upwards of $400 billion annually.

Peak drug use occurred in 1978 during an exceedingly liberal period of drug
policy. After an aggressive drug war, the lowest period was achieved in
1992. Since then, drug policy nay-sayers and some softening of policy have
helped fuel another increase.

There is so much more that can be done to fight drug use. Better
cooperation between federal agencies, more prevention efforts, more
treatment availability, better use of the criminal-justice system to gain
treatment for addicts, drug courts to discourage the casual user and force
help for the addict. Forfeiture is still an important tool.

Eric A. Voth, Chairman, The International Drug Strategy Institute, Topeka