NCJ Number
154266
Date Published
1992
Length
49 pages
Annotation
In a short-sighted zeal to create a "Drug-Free America" by 1995, America's political leaders -- State and Federal, elected and appointed -- have acted as though the end justifies the means, repudiating our heritage of limited government and individual freedoms while endowing the bureaucratic state with unprecedented powers.
Abstract
The assault on the Bill of Rights under the cloak of a righteous war on drugs has involved the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. Both the legislative and executive branches have viewed the Nation's drug problem as essentially a problem that can be solved by increasing detection and punishment. Detection has been increased by giving law enforcement officials ever more intrusive methods for identifying drug dealers and users. Punishment has been increased through mandatory periods of incarceration for even petty drug users, such that more and more Americans are behind bars. The judicial branch has cooperated in this legislative and executive assault on the Bill of Rights by refusing to render abusive law enforcement practices unconstitutional. Citizens' privacy has been invaded through drug testing in the workplace, broader police discretion in searches and seizures, surveillance of the mail, wiretapping, car stops, monitoring, stigmatization, and military surveillance. The obsessive focus on drug use and dependence as a criminal justice problem has not only undermined resources for treatment and prevention, but has diverted the bulk of criminal justice resources from more serious criminal threats to the enforcement of drug laws. 199 notes