UNJUST, HARMFUL WAR ON DRUGS SHOULD BE ENDED

Recently, the Wall Street Journal published an editorial objecting to a
full page ad saying, "The global war on drugs is now causing more harm than
drug abuse itself," which appeared in several papers.

Perhaps it's time to take a hard look and consider our drug laws. The legal
injustices are prevalent. The punishments are too unfair.

Take the case of Norm and Pat Major, an elderly middle-class with three
children and eight grandchildren, active members of their church and
pillars of their community, who faced prison, confiscation of their home
and fines because Norm grew and used medicinal marijuana.

Over a period of time, starting with a work place injury, Norm Major had
more than 80 surgeries, which build up increasing tolerance for legally
prescribed drugs. At one time, he required 600 milligram doses of morphine
every three to four hours.

The effect of the legal drugs was so detrimental to Major's health that
doctors advised him to try marijuana and eliminate morphine. He did.
Marijuana relieved his pain without the morphine side effects so he started
growing plants in his basement.

Subsequently, Norm's pot growing operation was discovered and he and his
wife were prosecuted and sentenced under a plea agreement.

The punishment? The Majors are on probation and must pay $23,500 to avoid
prison and forfeiture of their home of 32 years. Contrast this with
probation, community service and a $6,000 fine levied recently against a
councilman in the same county who sodomized a 14-year-old girl. The
sentences are completely out of proportion.

The Majors have harmed no one. They represent no threat to society at
large. They simply grew marijuana plants for Norm's personal use in
alleviating pain.

The councilman, however, is a child molester who admits to two counts of
sodomy with a minor. The history of child molesters is that they do not
stop - even after imprisonment. Treatment is almost always ineffectual. Yet
this local monster, who represents a genuine threat to children, has been
released back into the community with a slap on the hand.

This is a travesty of justice.

If one looks at Majors' case, which is typical of most drug cases, there is
no rational excuse for prosecuting such peaceful, harmless people. There
are no victims involved.

Prosecute those who drive under the influence of drugs; they endanger the
safety of others. Prosecute those who sell drugs to minors; they endanger
the health and safety of children. Prosecute those who steal to support
their drug habit; theft and burglary violate private property rights. And
prosecute those guilty of drug-induced disorderly conduct or violence;
against others

But don't prosecute those who, for whatever reason, are using drugs in a
nonthreatening manner and who do NOT endanger public safety.

While drug use may be unhealthy and a vice or a sin, as some insist, it is
not a matter of legal concern. Drug use is better treated by doctors than
policemen. It is better to deal with education, social ostracism,
persuasion, treatment and debate - not imprisonment. Prison is no solution
since drugs are prevalent in prisons.

Yet nicotine smoking, a far more addicting drug than heroin, according to
former Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Joseph Califano, has
decreased because of widespread public education about its unhealthy
effects.

In another area, the drug war is also unjust. It allows the government to
seize property that has been used in the commission of certain selected
illegal acts, even before the defendants have been convicted of any crime.

Many police departments routinely seize the automobiles and bank accounts
of those who transport illegal drugs because of the forfeiture money
involved.

Civil forfeiture cases are vindictive and unwarranted. They allow many
courts to reap handsome monetary rewards by confiscating the property of
alleged violators.

There is yet another reason for ending the drug war. It entices the
children to enter into the underworld of gangs and drug traffickers. When a
child can drop out of school and make more money selling marijuana than his
father makes, it is hard to keep him focused on planning a different career.

It is kids who sell to kids. Gangs selling drugs can now afford weapons and
cars that they lacked before the drug war made it so lucrative to peddle
contraband. Now, instead of street fights we have drive-by shootings. We
have focused on ending the lucrative supply of drugs instead of reducing
the demand through public information programs.

Further, taxpayer money is misspent housing nonviolent drug users in
prison. More prisons would not be necessary if we could legalize all drug
use. Drug users and sellers are generally not violent criminals, but they
represent almost 50 percent of prison populations. This is wasted tax money.

Our greatest concern, however, ought not to with the profits derived from
the drug war (by both the traffickers and the enforcement agencies alike)
but with the principle of individual rights involved - the right of all
adult individuals to live their lives in whatever manner they choose so
long as they do not violate the equal rights of others.

Only the Libertarian Party has bitten this hard political bullet. For 27
years, it has staunchly upheld the personal right of American adults to
choose what they consume, while, at the same time. demanding they accept
responsibility for their actions and never never initiate violence against
others.

Citizens concerned with legal justice and the increasing costs of prisons
should start on the road back to rational justice by supporting legislation
to allow the medicinal use of all drugs; introducing legislation to
decriminalize all victimless crimes; and ending forfeiture laws which
encourage misdirected police arrests of peaceful, honest citizens.