AMERICA CAN'T BE BOTH FREE AND 'DRUG-FREE'

Regarding Ronald Fraser's op-ed June 22:

The financial incentives created by civil asset forfeiture laws create
a dangerous precedent. Police can confiscate cars, cash and homes
without bothering to charge owners with a crime. Vague allegations of
drug trafficking don't justify turning protectors of the peace into
financial predators. The drug war threatens the integrity of a country
founded on the concept of limited government.

Police searches on public transit, drug-sniffing dogs in schools and
random drug testing have led to a loss of civil liberties while
failing miserably at preventing drug use. Despite marijuana
prohibition and perhaps because of forbidden fruit appeal, lifetime
use of marijuana is higher in the United States than any European
country, a majority of which have decriminalized marijuana.

The United States now has the highest incarceration rate in the world,
in large part due to the war on some drugs. This is big government at
its worst.

It's not possible to wage a moralistic war against consensual vices
unless privacy is completely eliminated, along with the U.S.
Constitution.

America can be a free country or a "drug-free" country, but not
both.

Robert Sharpe, MPA

Policy Analyst

Common Sense For Drug Policy

Washington, D.C.