BLM CAN'T STOP DRUG USE AT BURNING MAN

In your Burning Man story ("Burning Man back at same desert site," July
16),
spokeswoman Marian Goodell says: "We are committed to following all
state and
federal laws (regarding illegal drug use). This year, we're also
committed to better
informing our participants as to what their rights are…" (Emphasis
added.)

For the record, Burning Man organizers have never discouraged the use
and/or
sale of illegal drugs at these "artistic" Labor Day week events. Rather,
they've
been saturated by drugs since Burning Man started on a San Francisco
beach in
1986. (In 1990, founder Larry Harvey moved it to BLM land in the Black
Rock
Desert after San Francisco police shut it down.)

This year, finally, the BLM has recognized the drug problem and is
vowing that
"personal drug use isn't (to be) permitted." Please! Does the BLM really
think it
can stop drug use among the 25,000-30,000 participants expected this
year?

What Ms. Goodell is telling the BLM is this: "Be careful, because if you
do
anything that can be construed as a right-of-privacy invasion, you'll
get sued."

You can bet drug use will continue this year. It may be just less
flagrant.

Ron Funk, Genoa