MARIJUANA PROHIBITION VIOLATES RIGHTS

To the editor:

The Milwaukee Police Association has criticized Milwaukee Mayor John
Norquist and Police Chief Arthur Jones for supporting a local
ordinance that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana.

While the American Civil Liberties Union is non-partisan and does not
endorse candidates for elective office, the flap over decriminalizing
marijuana in the mayoral election provides an opportunity to advocate
on one issue. We have opposed marijuana prohibition since 1968.

The ACLU has its disagreements with Jones over issues such as
area-specific enforcement, but his position on decriminalizing
marijuana is right.

The criminal prohibition of marijuana represents an extraordinary
degree of government intrusion into the private, personal lives of the
millions of adults who choose to use it. What's more, the so-called
war on drugs is the cause of other serious civil liberties violations,
including the civil forfeiture of people's homes, cars and other
assets on the grounds they were "used in the commission of" a
marijuana offense.

The claim that marijuana is a more dangerous drug than alcohol or
nicotine, which are not illegal, is ludicrous. Drug abusers should be
treated as part of a serious public health problem, not as criminals.
The crusaders in our nation's failed war on drugs may wish to step up
enforcement, but that will only compound the devastating social impact
of marijuana prohibition.

CHRISTOPHER AHMUTY
Executive Director ACLU of Wisconsin Milwaukee