DRUG SQUABBLE SHOWS PROBLEM

So Jasper County and Ridgeland police are trying to figure out how to best
split money seized from drug offenders after the federal government first
takes its cut. The financial incentives created by civil asset forfeiture
laws create a very dangerous precedent. The government can legally
confiscate cars, cash and homes without even bothering to charge owners
with a crime. This is a clear abuse of power.

Vague allegations of drug trafficking hardly 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. The steady rise in
police searches on public transit, drug-sniffing dogs in schools, racial
profiling and suspicionless drug testing have led to a loss of civil
liberties, while failing miserably at preventing drug use.

The United States 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 either be a free
country or a "drug-free" country, but not both. Drug abuse is bad, but the
drug war is worse.

Robert Sharpe, Drug Policy Alliance, Washington, D.C.