Drug Raid at Scott Ranch

I watched the “20/20” (April 2) piece about the killing of Donald Scott during a raid by some 30 officers of a large variety of agencies carrying an apparently fraudulently obtained search warrant to look for drugs (see your editorial of April 3). This incident is but one skirmish in the so-called “War on Drugs.”

This war has cost us an incalculable amount of money (upward of $100 billion by some estimates) in the hiring of enforcement officers, judges and jailers, and the building of courts and prisons. It has also cost us the suspension of many of our rights, the most glaring example being the so-called “forfeiture laws” by which our government is empowered to confiscate private property without due process.

So is it worth it? A resounding no! We are not winning this war, we are losing it.

Let’s forget the whole concept of war and try a different way of dealing with the drug problem. Let’s look at England’s method. Let’s seriously consider some form of legalization. Let’s do something different!

DEANE BOTTORF

Corona del Mar