LOCAL OFFICIALS BEST SUITED TO CONTROL ASSETS

Drug pushers across the nation have -- in theory at least -- been
funding their own ruin for a number of years now.

Asset forfeiture laws allow law enforcement officials to seize
property -- including cash, cars and buildings -- that has either been
used in drug trafficking or purchased with drug money.

This has amounted to quite the windfall for the state's district
attorneys and local police chiefs, as well as law enforcement
officials across the nation.

It also has raised a number of questions.

Some question the idea of forfeiture itself, noting that assets can
often be seized without due process of the law, requiring citizens to
prove their innocence to get back their property.

Others question oversight of the money, the distribution of the money
and whether the promise of bigger seizures encourages police to hold
off on drug arrests.

Still others question what all the fuss is about.

Despite the questions, forfeiture has turned into a powerful tool for
law enforcement, which uses the money to fund programs that might
otherwise be paid for by taxpayers.