Pubdate: Tue, 07 Sep 1999
Date: 09/07/1999
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Author: Jack B. Pollack
Note: subjectline by MAP
Related: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n927.a03.html
http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v99.n965.a03.html

Lionel de Leon's Aug. 28 Voices essay, in which he advocates the
legalization of drugs, couldn't have been more timely.

The same edition had a story about a "narcotics raid." According to
the El Monte Police Department, even though they had "no evidence"
that a house contained drugs, they raided it anyway, killing a
65-year-old man in the process.

This incident is the quintessential example of how the "war on drugs"
inspires a maniacal, zealot like mindset on the part of law
enforcement in a fruitless attempt to regulate drugs by establishing a
prohibition of them.

Jack B. Pollack
Redondo Beach