LEGALIZE MARIJUANA AND DECRIMINALIZE GOOD PEOPLE

The financial incentives created by civil asset forfeiture laws
create a dangerous precedent ["Seized assets do pay off," March 26].
Police can confiscate cars, cash, and homes without bothering to
charge owners with a crime.

Vague allegations of drug trafficking don't justify turning what
should be 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.

A majority of European Union countries have decriminalized marijuana.
Despite marijuana prohibition, lifetime use of marijuana is higher in
the U.S. than in any European country.

The U.S. now has the highest incarceration rate in the world, in
large part due to the war on some drugs.

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

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

Robert Sharpe

Arlington

The writer is a policy analyst with Common Sense for Drug Policy.