U.S. ASSET FORFEITURE PLAN HAS NO PLACE IN CANADA

Windsor police Chief Glenn Stannard is right about one thing: The
American civil asset forfeiture model is certainly lucrative. 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 U.S.
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 in America,
while failing miserably at preventing drug use. A majority of European
Union countries have decriminalized marijuana. Despite marijuana
prohibition -- and perhaps because of forbidden fruit appeal --
lifetime use of marijuana is higher in the U.S. than any European country.

Canada's southern neighbour 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. Canada should Just Say No to the
American Inquisition.

Robert Sharpe

Washington, D.C.