[The Scourge of Yazid]

Even though I'm not a full-fledged supporter of the "war on drugs", I think that you have to give credit where credit is due.

The Reagan administration was relatively successful in terms of drug interdiction, suppression and treatment.

I realize that the mandatory minimum sentencing guidelines were instituted while he was in office, but those were enacted at the behest of an overwhelmingly Democratic congress.

I know that you probably feel that William Bennett is a sanctimonious, paternalistic moralizer when it comes to this particular issue, but he did do a reasonably effective job at the Office for Drug Control Policy.

Personally, I think that the bureaucracy underneath the "Drug Czar" is redundant, and often more harmful than helpful, but you still have begrudgingly admit that Bennett did a pretty job when he held that post during the Reagan administration.

[DB]

Where I think things went particularly wrong in the WOD was asset seizure without due process and no knock raids. No knock raids are particularly hideous. Many people have died defending their homes from unannounced attacks from masked government agents who were absolutely innocent. Your presumption of innocents is totally crushed by such actions.

[E Rocc]

Among Reagan's pre-Presidential radio addresses was one about marijuana, focusing on the risks for underage users. In passing, he commented that if adults want to take these risks, it's their own business. Even the "Just Say No" campaign was fundamentally based on abstinence, not Prohibition.

It's often forgotten that on cultural issues, Reagan was closer to a libertarian than a "cultural conservative".

-Eric