Tom Swiss
Engl 391H
3/14/1991
Amendments to the Constitution of the United States:We are told that there is a war fought in America - the War on Drugs. We're told that this is a good, even a necessary, thing. But while the government tries to eliminate drug use - a feat attempted by many societies over the years, and never with success - our rights, our health, and our safety are the casualties.I. Congress shall make no law...abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble...
IV. The rights of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury...nor shall [any person] be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself...
The promise of America is its guarantee of limited government power, as expressed in the Bill of Rights. We have assurance that our homes are safe from unreasonable searches, that we won't be compelled to testify against ourselves, that we can freely speak our minds. But, in the spirit that all's fair in love and war, that guarantee isn't being honored.
Take, for example, a drug raid conducted in March 1990 when Columbus, Ohio police burst into the house of Faye Carter, a 79-year old widow. They ransacked her drawers, closets, and cabinets, finding nothing and causing $3,100 in damages - damages that the city refused to pay for, forcing Carter to hire a lawyer and bring suit. [Quick Flashes, High Times, Jan '91]
Or consider the experience of Joseph Hoberman. On October 25, 1989, he was tending his orchids at his Raleigh, N.C. home when he was approached by seven police officers, who asked permission to search his home for marijuana plants, adding "if you say no, we'll come back with a warrant and we won't be in a great mood." He admitted them; they found nothing. And what did he do that put him under suspicion? He bought a light meter for his orchids from a mail-order indoor gardening equipment store that advertised in the pro-marijuana magazine High Times. [Marijuana McCarthyism, The New York Times, Dec 30 '89]
Nor are these isolated cases. The Columbus Dispatch reported that narcotics officers fail to find drugs in one out of every three local raids. [Quick Flashes, High Times, Jan '91] A Denver Post article reported that nearly half of that city's narcotics raids fail to produce any drugs. James Joy, executive director of the ACLU in Denver, says the courts "give warrants just about anytime the police ask for them." [Quick Flashes, High Times, Dec '90] The Fourth Amendment seems to be dying.
Perhaps even more disturbing are threats to the First Amendment's assurances of freedom of assembly and of the press. On October 26, 1989, the DEA coordinated raids in 46 states on stores specializing in indoor garden supplies, in an attempt to shut down the indoor production of marijuana. The raids resulted in the confiscation of books, merchandise and records from more than three dozen stores, and the closing of several others. Eleven store owners were arrested. All of the stores investigated advertised in High Times or Sinsemilla Tips, another pro- marijuana magazine, raising the possibility that this was an attempt to shut down these magazines by scaring off advertisers. [Marijuana McCarthyism, The New York Times, Dec 30 '89] Add to this recent "anti-loitering" laws, such as one in the District of Columbia that allows police to cordon off streets, order people out of an area, and arrest anyone who gathers in a group of two or more people on charges of "failure to move on," [Powerful arms of drug war arousing concern for rights, The New York Times, Oct 16 '89] and the First Amendment seems to be in big trouble.
Is the Fifth to follow? The Fifth Amendment was designed to prevent coercion from being used to extract information from suspects. But it didn't prevent Officer John Gamble of the Dayton, Ohio police, with the assistance of several other officers, from scorching David Greer with a clothes iron in an attempt to gain information in a January 1990 raid on Greer's apartment. [Quick Flashes, High Times, Jan '91] It seems that the war crimes have begun.
The War on Drugs also makes for a threat to our health. Intravenous drug users are not able to legally purchase drug parapharnalia, such as syringes and needles. This forces to share needles, contributing to the spread of AIDS. Victims of cancer, AIDS, and other diseases are denied legal access to the therapeutic effects marijuana can have in relieving pain and nausea, forcing all but the lucky few able to convince the FDA and the DEA of their need for prescription pot to obtain it illegally. [Aids Patients Seek a Legal High, Insight, Jan 14 1991] Possible medical uses of heroin and cocaine in relieving pain and suffering remain unexploited because of legal restrictions and pressure from the government's Drug Warriors or researchers. The ability to classify controlled substances lies with the Attorney General, instead of the Surgeon General - that is, decisions on which drugs are medically available are made by the nation's top law enforcement official rather than the top health official. [Wisotsky, p. 135]
And as the rate of violent crime continues to rise, and figures from Miami and New York City show that about one-fourth of homicides in these cities are drug related - including black- market executions and murders for robbery [Wisotsky, p. 151] - we have to consider the risks to our safety posed by the War on Drugs. Because drug dealers don't just kill each other. Any of us could be caught in the crossfire of a drug turf battle, or be mugged by someone for money to buy drugs. You could be the next to be killed.
Or you could be the victim of a drug raid - the sanctity of your home shattered, your property destroyed. Best be sure the businesses you deal with don't advertise in the wrong magazines.
Or it could be you, or a friend, or a loved one, who is denied the drugs that could ease the symptoms of illness, that could stop the nausea of chemotherapy, that could block the pain of a disease like multiple sclerosis.
The War on Drugs is a perfect example of burn-the-village-in-order-to-save-it mentality. It must be stopped if this nation is to survive.
Wisotsky, Steven. Breaking the Impasse in the War on Drugs. New York: Greenwood Press, 1986.