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"A Victim of the Drug War?" appeared in The New Republic in 1998 and again in Reason Magazine in 1999. This ad illustrates how our Constitutional rights and freedoms are being gradually eroded by the war on drugs.
Is the Constitution a
Victim of the Drug War?
TRADITIONAL RIGHTSRIGHTS LOST
To search your home, police need a warrant based on reliable information of criminal activity from someone whose information the police can verify.
U.S. Constitution Fourth Amendment; Aguilar v. Texas, 378 US 108 (1964); Spinelli v. US, 393 US 108 (1964)

The right to be left alone - the most comprehensive of rights, and the most valued by civilized men.
Justice Louis Brandels, Olmstead v. US, 277 US 438 (1928)

Police can search your home based on an anonymous tip.
Illinois v. Gates 462 US 213 (1983)

Police can ignore fences and "no trespassing signs" and search private property without a warrant.
Oliver v. US, 466 US 170 (1984)

The government cannot deprive a person of property without due process of the law.
US Constitution, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments

"Property is more than a mere thing which a person owns. It is elementary that it includes the right to acquire, use, and dispose of it. The Constitution protects these essential attributes of property ..."
Buchanan v. Warley, 245 US 60, 74, (1917)

Property may be taken from an owner who had no knowledge of its illegal use.
Bennis v. Michigan, US 116 S. Ct. 994, 134 L.Ed.2d 68, 74-79 (1996)

Property can be seized even if the owner is not prosecuted or even acquitted.
US v. One Assortment of 89 Firearms, 465 U.S. 354, 361 (1984. US v. Real Property Located at 6625 Zumirez Drive, 845 F. Supp. 725, 733 (1994)

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons ... shall not be violated."
U.S. Constitution, Fourth Amendment
Testing bodily fluids for evidence of past drug use is permitted for many government employees, even when there is no suspicion that the employee used drugs or even without suspicion of widespread drug use among employees.
NTEU v. Van Raab, 489 US 656 (1989) Skinner v. RLEA, 489 US 602 (1989)
[There is] a tradition and strong resistance of Americans to any military intrusion in civilian affairs. This tradition has deep roots in our history.
Chief Justice Burger, Laird v. Tatum, 708 US 1, 15-16 (1972)

The use of the military in domestic law enforcement was traditionally a criminal offense.
The Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, 18 USC 1885

Amendments to the Posse Comitatus Act allow the military to serve as police within the United States, giving them the authority to enforce drug laws, operate equipment, conduct joint operations with police, and conduct training exercises. The military was designated by law to be the "lead agency" for interdiction efforts.
National Defence Authorization Act of 1982, sec. 905; 1989, sec. 1104; 1990 and 1991, sec. 1201; 1991 sec. 1004
The Drug War is Failing to Make us Drug
Free. But it May be Making us Unfree!
Visit Drug War Facts at: www.drugsense.org
Common Sense for Drug Policy Foundation Kevin B. Zeese, President, 703-354-5694, 703-354-5695 (fax),  info@csdp.org