There are 80,000 raids approximately per year by law enforcement.
Somewhere around 40,000 are done by federal law enforcement last year.
Much of these raids are conducted to go after drug paraphernalia.
But are we wasting our money? And are the non-economic costs even
greater? Let us discuss.
The heart break: The cases where raids are botched
are rising. Numerous stories can be told of where the wrong house has
been raided. In fact the house of a Mayor was raided when it was supposed
to be his neighbors. The Mayor was quoted saying that if he attempted to
go for his gun to defend himself, he would be dead. There was another
incident where a husband thought the raiders were burglars and held his gun
with the safety on in an attempt to intimidate the intruders while he had his
wife hiding in the closet. In this case, the man was shot 72 times by
police. Another time, a girl was shot while she was sleeping on the
couch, and meanwhile the police held the farther on the ground as he cried out
asking why they had shot his daughter. It was apparently the wrong
apartment being raided. Additionally, in a different incident, parents
asked the police not to go into a room where their sleeping baby slept, but the
police instead threw a flash bang grenade into the room which in turn burned
the baby severely. As you can see, these incidents are not isolated.
These raids continue yearly with little to no drugs actually seized.
What can be done: Many libertarians are starting to
think that even if we cannot legalize all drugs (or at least the least
harmful), that drug laws and similar should be handled by the State
governments. In short, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), along with
the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) should be abolished in favor of each State making
their own separate and distinct laws regarding food and drugs. While it
may sound chaotic, it will eliminate the federal government from a function it
was not Constitutionally allowed to do, and it means States like California,
Colorado and similar will not have to worry about the feds coming in and
arresting their citizens for something that is legally allowed in their States.
Conclusion: While I respect police and what
they do to protect us, it is not the police who dictate law. Instead it
is the law makers who have the police enforce and perform such acts.
Essentially, the police are scapegoats, and victims in this drug war as
well. So the only solution I feel is right is to end the drug war once
and for all.
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