DECRIMINALIZE OR LOSE WAR

The people and other law enforcement officials in Los Angeles are probably
familiar with the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, but judging from the
case of Mario Paz, they apparently regard it as merely an inconvenient
impediment to their work, rather than as an important safeguard of the
liberty of the inhabitants of this country. The amendment states, in part:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses ... against
unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants
shall issue, but upon probable cause ... ." If the price of winning the war
on drugs is to live in a police state with diminished constitutional rights,
where the police break down the doors of law-abiding citizens and shoot them
in their beds, it would be better to lose the war or to decriminalize the
use of all drugs.

Merton E. Munson, The Woodlands