DRUG BILL AN ATTACK ON RIGHTS

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch and Utah Rep. Chris Cannon appear to be using the Bill
of Rights as rolling paper so they can light up and satisfy their addiction
for power over our lives. H.R. 2987, the Methamphetamine Anti-Proliferation
Act sponsored by them, would trash your right to privacy, due process and
free speech. The bill empowers the police to conduct secret searches of your
property, often referred to as "black bag" searches. It creates a new type
of search warrant that allows police to enter your home or place of
business, conduct a search, seize or copy files from your computer, and not
tell you about it until months later.

This an outright assault on the Fourth Amendment. But, if you're out to
demonstrate that you're a law-and-order politician like Hatch and Cannon,
that pesky amendment is a real drag. But that's exactly what the
Constitution is supposed to be - a drag on government power.

The bill would also create new federal drug offenses. There are only three
federal crimes listed in the Constitution: treason, piracy and
counterfeiting. So, the Ninth and 10th Amendments are being free-based.

While opposing this bill is constitutionally correct, that won't restore our
lost and stolen rights. The only way to stop the politicians from further
injections of unconstitutional authority is to end the insane war on drugs.
That's the constitutional thing to do.

- - Len Karpinski, Libertarian candidate for Congress, Anchorage