To imprison as many people as the United States does, we need a lot of convictions. And to get those convictions, law enforcement organizations are trampling civil rights. The idea of probable cause for searches has almost disappeared. And many of these raids produce no drugs, only damaged private property. The Columbus Dispatch reported that narcotics officers fail to find drugs in one out of every three local raids.
Free speech is also in serious jeopardy.
Just talking about drugs is now enough to get you arrested. This person is under indictment for conspiracy to grow and sell marijuana. In other words, and by extension, it may well be illegal for a librarian to help a patron find back issues of Sensimilla Tips on the shelf because that information could be used to grow marijuana. Writing about drugs, or advertising with does who do, can also get you in trouble. In October of 1989, in an attempt to shut down the indoor production of marijuana, the DEA coordinated raids in 46 states on stores specializing in indoor gardening supplies, resulting in the confiscation of books, merchandise and records from more than three dozen stores, and the closing of several others.