FILLING PRISONS WITH 'KIDS'

The Chronicle's July 31 Page one reports on the Senate Ecstasy hearings
being held in Washington, D.C., this week have yielded some sensational
stories about the proliferation of Ecstasy and the dangers it holds for our
kids and our country ("Senate panel told of a plague called X").

Once again it will be nearly impossible for our representatives to resist
throwing more money at law enforcement and creating new and more onerous
penalties for possession and trafficking. The politicians can then go back
to their home districts and crow about the great efforts they are making
for our kids' sake.

If filling prisons with "our kids" is the only way that they can think of
to save "our kids," they should just not bother.

David A. Hawes, Dayton