Asset Forfeiture, Burdens of Proof and the War on Drugs

Abstract

In September 1989, a Gallup Poll reported that more than 60% of Americans cited illegal drugs as the most important problem facing the nation.Randolph Ryan, A Poverty Paint Job, BOSTON GLOBE, July 31, 1990, at 11.As the economy soured, that number dropped to 30% in April 1990, and 18%o in July 1990 (at which time 21% mentioned the federal budget deficit as the number one problem).Id.; Michael R. Kagay, Deficit Raises as Much Alarm as Illegal Drugs, a Poll Finds, N.Y.TIMES, July 25, 1990, at A9.Despite this shift in priorities, American attitudes toward illegal drugs, as well as alcoholic beverages and tobacco cigarettes, indicate an intense and widespread public intolerance.In December 1990, the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse reported that among 18-to 25-year-olds, the percentage who had used cocaine in the last month went from 9% in the peak year of 1979 to 2%.Gina Kolata, Temperance: An Old Cycle Repeats Itself, N.Y.TIMES, Jan. 1, 1991, § 1 at 35.The percentage who had used any illegal drug in the last month went from 37% in 1982 to 15%.Id.A December 1990 USA Today survey of 16-to 24-year-olds found that 77% favored random drug testing, 78% thought that marijuana should remain illegal and 58% identified drugs as the most important problem they faced.Karen S. Peterson, Young Adults Are Leaning to the Right, USA TODAY, Dec. 13, 1990, at ID.2 In March 1988, the Reagan Administration announced a shift in drug policy, directing efforts at the demand as well as supply side of the drug trade and adopting a "zero tolerance" strategy.See, e.g., Ruth Marcus, Customs: No Leniency for Drugs at Borders, WASH.POST, Mar. 19, 1988, at A3; John Kendall, U.S. to Charge Smugglers of Even

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