I’m not a pot smoker. I’ve never used the stuff and I probably never will. And I admit that the intricacies and motivations behind government drug policy have not been the least bit fascinating to me, and that my interest in the subject has never been very great.

I am no longer indifferent to this subject.

Yesterday, I read about a dramatic, full-on SWAT Team raid on a house in Missouri in which government representatives, armed with a warrant and automatic weapons, busted into a private home, killed the family dog(s) in front of a seven year-old child, forced the father at gunpoint onto the floor and ransacked the residence. What did they find? Enough pot to charge the man with a misdemeanor.

When did the War on Drugs become the War on Common Sense? I ask that with complete sincerity, because by any reasonable measure the harsh and violent tactics, the destruction/killing of property, and violation of privacy conducted here and, apparently in similar raids across the nation, is far removed from what any rational, freedom-cherishing citizen would consider proportional to the crime.

It’s governmental abuses of the Fourth Amendment like this that place me firmly on the side of legalization.

Think I’m blowing things out of proportion? Perhaps you should watch the video. While you are watching, keep in mind that this was all done for a misdemeanor offense.

Thanks to Ideawave for alerting me to this story.