A CASUALTY OF USELESS WAR

The June 13 article ''City targets heroin buyers coming from the suburbs''
states: ''When a buyer hitting the West Side open-air drug markets is
arrested, the car will be seized and towed, and the owner will have to pay
towing and storage fees that could run into the hundreds of dollars.'' Is
that before or after the trial by jury?

Once again, the war on drugs comes into direct conflict with the
Constitution, and the Bill of Rights loses. Yet, for all their
Constitution-shredding tactics, the police are unsuccessful at doing
anything to materially affect the drug trade (beyond occasionally driving
up the cost of prohibited drugs and making a few drug users' lives a living
hell). What an accomplishment.

And that's only one of thousands of very good reasons all drugs should be
legal. Drug use is a personal choice -- even the use of potentially deadly
drugs like alcohol, cocaine, cigarettes and heroin. If American citizens
own their own bodies, then they should be able to choose what substances go
into those bodies. End of argument.

Jake Witmer

West Town