Pubdate: Mon, 19 Aug 2013
Source: Washington Times (DC)
Copyright: 2013 The Washington Times, LLC.
Contact:  http://www.washingtontimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/492
Author: Robert Sharpe

DRUG WAR'S COST TOO HIGH, RETURNS TOO SMALL

Kudos to Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, for defending the U.S. 
Constitution when so many others in Congress won't ("National 
security run amok," Commentary, Aug. 9). The police-state approach to 
public health problems such as substance abuse has not worked. 
Warrantless government surveillance, drug-sniffing dogs in schools 
and random drug testing have all led to a loss of civil liberties in 
America, while failing miserably at preventing drug use.

The drug war is largely a war on marijuana. Based on findings that 
criminal records are inappropriate as health interventions and 
ineffective as deterrents, a majority of European Union countries 
have decriminalized marijuana. Despite marijuana prohibition and 
perhaps because of a forbidden-fruit appeal, lifetime use of 
marijuana is higher in the United States than it is in any European country.

The drug war threatens the integrity of a country founded on the 
concept of limited government. Thanks to the drug war, the land of 
the free now has the highest incarceration rate in the world. It's 
not possible to wage a moralistic war against consensual vices unless 
privacy is eliminated completely, along with the U.S. Constitution. 
America can either be a free country or a drug-free country, but it 
cannot be both.

ROBERT SHARPE

Washington
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