By Bill Fancher and Jody Brown
September 13, 2001

(AgapePress) - One Washington-based organization thinks drug enforcement agencies have gone overboard in their efforts to stifle the illegal drug trade.

A coalition of conservative groups such as Eagle Forum, the Free Congress Foundation, and Americans for Tax Reform -- along with liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Libertarian Party -- are worried about the U.S. drug policy. The coalition says it is concerned that the zeal of law enforcement is stepping on the constitutional right of privacy in its effort to stamp out drugs. An organization with the same concerns is the American Policy Center, a grassroots action and education foundation that favors limited government regulations over commerce and individuals.

American Policy Center president Tom DeWeese insists those who have directed the war on illegal drugs have not protected the constitutional rights to privacy. He says law enforcement's zeal to stop the flow of illegal drugs has run amok -- and he cited several examples.

"For example, in California, DEA agents harassed business owners, demanding that they provide the names and addresses of any customer who legally purchased books or equipment dealing with the growing of hydroponic plants," DeWeese says. "In public schools, drug-free zones have become asylums of zero tolerance, where students are suspended for having simple aspirin. Children who might help a fellow student with a headache are accused of dealing [drugs]."

According to DeWeese, the tactics being employed are out of control. He points out that banks are required to report people who deal in large sums of cash, and that airline passengers who purchase tickets with cash are immediately put under surveillance. In addition, he says there have been several instances where innocent people have been killed by drug agents in early-morning raids because the agents went to the wrong house or acted on a tip from a questionable source.

While he wants to see the illegal drug market crushed, DeWeese says he does not want to forfeit his constitutional rights.

© 2001 AgapePress all rights reserved.

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