A SWAT team spent ten hours raiding a small organic farm called The Garden of Eden in Arlington, Texas last month. They expected to find a few marijuana plants. They didn‘t. What they found instead: 17 blackberry bushes, 15 okra plants, 14 tomatillo plants, native grasses and sunflowers.

Even if they had found marijuana, would that justify holding terrified residents of the farm at gun point for at least half an hour? Would it justify using weapons created for overseas combat theatres?

Would it justify treating people in this country like wartime enemies?

The answer is no. In service of fighting the failed War on Drugs, too many police officers have been told they are soldiers fighting a war. This is a problem. We are not the enemy.