TRADING AMERICAN LIBERTY FOR SECURITY IS A FATAL ERROR

Thanks for publishing Robert Sharpe's letter on the Drug Policy Alliance.
America would not be the first country in history to destroy the liberty
upon which it was founded.

John Locke wrote: "Whenever legislators endeavor to take away and destroy
the property of the people, or to reduce them to slavery under arbitrary
power, they put themselves into a state of war with the people, who are
thereupon absolved from any further obedience," in 1690.

Thomas Jefferson was a big fan of Locke, and incorporated many of Locke's
tenets into the Declaration of Independence.

The Founding Fathers were classic liberals. The tenets they left mankind
were meant to serve liberty forever.

When elected, the president swears an oath -- but not to uphold the laws of
the nation, not to provide jobs, a stable economy or to protect the country
from its enemies. The president swears his oath to "defend the Constitution
of the United States."

Well, defending the Constitution is the last thing the president does any
more, if at all. President George W. Bush has done nothing to uphold the
Constitution and everything to increase the power of the state.

Jefferson and Franklin, both of whom have famous quotes warning of the
dangers, have observed the fatal error of trading liberty for security over
and over throughout history.

The Constitution is not some relic from the horse-and-buggy days. It is a
living document the Founding Fathers hoped would keep America a republic.

Americans should cherish their liberty and hold the president to his
limited powers rather than support ambiguous Orwellian wars on drugs or
terrorism.

Chris G. Buors

Winnipeg, Manitoba

Buors, a Libertarian, is a drug policy activist.