The Razor Wire - Vol. We need to stop the War on Drugs By Willie Richmond, Marion County Commissioner Government's failure to act on drug reform is causing tyranny in this country. To say the War on Drugs is not working is an understatement. Our criminal justice system is being swept into a drug war that causes more harm than substance abuse itself.
Civil forfeiture allows the government to profit from black market assets through criminal windfall.
Billions of dollars in forfeitures are distributed to help create drug enforcement agencies that become special interest groups, dependent on the very black market they are designed to stop. The right of due process is being consumed by government's appetite for forfeiture. Americans who have done no wrong, are losing money and property without even an arrest. However, criminal justice agencies circumvent this requirement by implementing federal law. Drug offenses tried in federal court rose from more than 12,000 in 1992 to more than 16,000 in 1998.