ANOTHER MISFIRE IN DRUG WAR

It appears that the damage caused by a wildfire east of San Diego, which as
of Friday morning had burned about 61,550 acres, destroyed 106 buildings
(including 35 homes), caused 28 minor injuries, killed four wolves at a
wildlife center and has cost $16.9 million in tax money to combat so far
can be chalked up as another casualty of the drug war.

The California Department of Forestry says the blaze was sparked July 29
when an Army National Guard helicopter on an anti-drug patrol -- searching
for marijuana plants in the forest -- clipped a power line.

It's not as if the drug warriors started the fire on purpose, of course.
But when you have aircraft flying low in drought-ravaged forests, accidents
are not only possible but likely. Just as gang warfare and killings in
Colombia and the United States are likely when you try to prohibit
substances for which there still is, unfortunately, a ready market.

Some will wonder how appropriate it was to have a military helicopter on a
civilian law enforcement mission, further blurring a distinction that is
important to liberty.

We wonder when people will conclude at last that the costs of trying to
wage war on drugs are even higher than the costs of drug use.