Letter: Drug War Impinges On Civil Liberties
Hank Smith
September 9, 2008
Asbury Park Press (NJ)
An Aug. 26 letter to the editor, "Don't give up on drug war," urging the continuance of the current "war on drugs" illustrates the lack of common sense many people have on this issue.
This insane war is the greatest threat to civil liberties that we face. The police can't wait to look into or sniff your car whenever you are stopped for a minor traffic infraction. I always feel sorry for the poor sap I see stopped on the side of the road going through that wringer. Their lives can be ruined.
It infuriates me that untold billions of tax dollars go to the salaries and benefits of drug warriors at all levels of law enforcement. It is a waste of money.
The writer states drug law violations are "illegal behavior" and groups that behavior with the likes of theft, rape and murder. The latter three crimes are obviously wrong, and harm another person or their property. Drug use is a crime only because the government says it is.
As we should have learned from alcohol, prohibition does not work. It only pushes the activity underground, introducing unsavory elements of society into the equation and raising prices. Nearly all crime associated with drug use is because drugs are illegal.
You don't see alcoholics breaking into our homes to get money to buy a shot of whiskey. Addicts will always be with us. They harm themselves and cause endless suffering for those who love and care about them. What they need is treatment, not a jail cell.
Our prisons are overcrowded with nonviolent drug offenders and dangerous criminals are walking the street — talk about a waste of resources. We live in a supposedly free country, yet we can be put into jail for the rest of our lives for possessing a plant. It is preposterous! Why do we tolerate this? This country was founded on the principle of freedom of the individual. There should be no drug laws. What people choose to ingest into their bodies is their own business. | 
