HOPE, COMPASSION IS FOR EVERYONE

Golden Pen

I find the recent newspaper coverage, editorials and letters to the
editor regarding the arrest of Dr. George Lindholm quite remarkable.
They seem to indicate that Spokane has newfound compassion for people
who are having problems with drugs.

This understanding of how someone with a good education, good-paying
job and a stable family life can succumb to the stresses and pressure
of modern life, and turn to drugs for escape, is a sign that we as a
community are growing.

I only hope that the next time an unemployed, skinny, young man with a
mullet haircut, tattoos and sleeveless T-shirt is shown being led out
of a mobile home in handcuffs for possessing a few pot plants and some
prescription drugs that are not his own, this newfound compassion and
understanding will again appear.

The stresses and disappointments of his life are certainly no less
real than Lindholm's and the resources he possesses to deal with them
are so few in comparison.

Joel Stavana

Spokane