Last time I talked about the number of people incarcerated in America -- two million -- and the fact that 60 per cent of the people in federal jails are there for offenses that involve drugs.
Many police departments are obsessed with the war on drugs because they finance their activities through drug raids. The more money they get from drug raids the more money they have with which to pay themselves and to hire more people like themselves. It is a for profit organization. If I sell a lot of hamburgers I can pay myself a bigger salary, I can hire more people, I can be a big shot. That is the situation in the drug enforcement agency.
An article in The Nation points out that “1984 was the year that Congress rewrote the civil forfeiture laws to funnel drug money and “drug related” assets into the police agencies that seize them.” The key words here are “funnel drug money & drug assets into police agencies. They get to keep whatever they seize so it is in their interest to seize a lot.
The article in The Nation gives two horrific examples. In one case the police know that on a certain highway the southbound lane is full of cars of the customers who carry the cash to make the drug buys. The northbound lanes carry the drugs. The police stop the cars on the southbound lane because seized cash will end up forfeited to the police department, while seized drugs will only be destroyed.”
The cops let the drug dealers go free. It is in the interest of the cops to keep the drugs in circulation so more buyers will show up with more cash. Not only don’t they seize the drugs -- they want the drugs out there so more cars with more cash will drive on the southbound lanes and they will confiscate more money with which to increase their salary, increase their staff.
The second example is even more horrific -- and tragic. The Los Angeles Sherrif’s department targeted a 61 year old wealthy California recluse who lived on a 5 million dollar farm. They figured if they caught him growing marijuana they could confiscate his farm--and much more. Here I must quote from the article: “despite several unsuccsful efforts to corroborate the informant’s claim [that marijuana was being grown on the farm], and despite advice that Scott posed little threat of violence, the Sherrif’s department dispatched a multi-jurisdictional team to conduct a military style raid...They kicked in the door, and when Scott, armed with a gun, responded to his wife’s screams, they killed Scott.Of course there were no marijuana plants--no drugs of any kind on his farm--but Scott was dead--and they could claim they killed a man who brandished a gun. And they raided his farm with “two forfeiture specialists in tow.” Clearly their aim was confiscation -- money in their coffers. They didn’t focus on guilt or innocence. Their focus was -- their focus is -- money -- money to fund their activities.
They need to be stopped. They should not be allowed to confiscate property that ends up in their coffers. The basic answer is legalize drugs, empty our prisons of driug offenders -- and deprive police of these unbelievable powers that allow them to harass & kill innocent civilians.
Copyright © 2004 Henry Morgenstein