I wish to comment on the recent leadership changes at the Butler Police Department and Butler County Drug Task Force.

The Butler Eagle again has extolled the virtue of the failed “War on Drugs.” Repeating hackneyed arguments that held sway during the Prohibition era, the Feb. 17 editorial fails to consider whether preventing adult individuals from potentially harming their own bodies is a legitimate function of government.

The criminalization of drugs does nothing to stem the use of these substances while, on the other hand, empowers organized criminals, foments violence, hampers public health efforts, squanders taxpayer money, and diverts law enforcement resources.

Moreover, the editorial’s advocacy for “no leniency” for these victimless crimes is especially draconian, given that a grand jury is investigating allegations of institutional sexual assault at the Butler County Prison.

While prosecuting crimes predicated by drug use (such as theft, violence, driving while under the influence, and selling or providing illicit substances to minors) is a proper function of government, nullifying a person’s right to his or her own body is not.

In the last 10 years, three unsolved deaths have occurred within the county, leaving potentially dangerous criminals at large. Solving those crimes should be the true “apex of the objective to make the city and county better.”

On another important issue:

The continued hemorrhaging of money occurring at the United States Postal Service (USPS), estimated to reach $18.5 billion annually by 2015, is more evidence that an enterprise inspired by socialism (that is to say, a government-owned coercive monopoly) cannot cheat reality forever.

No legitimate private corporation could expect to survive with the financial prospects of the USPS. Its insulation from market forces with respect to pricing, labor contracts, $12.9 billion in taxpayer loans, and competition — it has none in first-class mail delivery — has left the entity’s financial status unsustainable.

Instead of simply crafting a patchwork solution, Congress and Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe should move to privatize the USPS and allow a free market to finally enter the first-class mail delivery industry.