WHAT'S BEING FORFEITED

Victoria - The forfeiture law is another unsavoury corollary of
relying on the Criminal Code to deal with the sometimes medical/social
problems associated with recreational drugs (The Unfairness Of The
Forfeiture Law - editorial, Sept. 3). Most of these problems - theft,
gangs, disease - arise from bad law interacting with bad habits, not
drug use per se.

The "war on drugs" wastes human, social, and financial capital to
achieve the dubious result of supporting the black market and the
profits of organized crime. As long as Prime Minister Stephen Harper,
and those who think like him, insist on the government acting in loco
parentis, they will remain the Hells Angels' best buds.

The proper role of government is not to impose its moral values on us,
but to provide the legal framework, through the use of regulations,
licences and taxation, within which adult citizens can partake of
drugs, gambling, prostitution and other alleged vices, in a peaceful
and orderly fashion. Only behaviour directly dangerous to others, such
as impaired driving (whether due to drugs, alcohol, or fatigue) should
continue to be treated as crimes.

Elizabeth Woods