DRUGS ARE NOT A HARMLESS ADDICTION

It is interesting to note how much out-of-state flak Matt Well is receiving
from his recommendation that stiffer penalties be given for drug users. It
is evident that the people who live the good life in Nebraska don't have a
problem with his suggestion. They have already discovered that a life well
- -lived has meaning and purpose, and when faced with challenges they refuse
to succumb to drugs or alcohol to give them the fleeting illusion of
well-being.

It is evident that our out-of-state friends have a great amount of pain and
agony in their lives. By their own admittance they have chosen to dull
their senses with various drugs which seem to lessen their desperation.
However, life was never meant to be lived on a slippery slope of desperation.

For every life choice that is made, there is a consequence that must be
accepted. Too many life choices today are made in moments of foolishness.
When the final consequence comes around, it is accepted with bitterness. In
order to find relief from the bitterness, drugs seem to ease their sense of
desperation.

DRUGS ARE NOT A HARMLESS ADDICTION, AS SOME USERS WOULD LIKE TO believe. It
causes our animal instincts to take control of our finely tuned sense of
values, and many crimes are committed in the heat of passion and
desperation. Family relationships suffer when drug addiction controls
decisions. Children's lives are at stake when both parents choose to resort
to living far below their potentials. Read your daily newspapers and see
for yourselves.

The answer is surely not in stiffer fines and longer incarceration. But
using every means of rehabilitation possible. Everyone deserves to live the
good life, even if they are not Nebraskans.

Bill Custer
816 E. Bismark Road

God Didn't Intend For Humans To Abuse Plants

I am writing in response to Dave Lane's letter. God, may have, in fact,
created certain plants that have mood altering effects. But, was it God who
told humans to abuse the materials he put on earth?

Did God ever build a meth lab? Did he create the first paraphernalia? I
don't think so! God has created many things that we, as mere humans, have
misused and abused.

Drugs are in fact the cause of many trials and tribulations to the human
race. How could you possibly dispute that fact. Children are neglected,
jobs lost, marriages end, family and friends are ignored/ abused. Most
people in prison for violent crimes had some sort of affiliation with drugs
at the time of their crime. Did God intend for the world to be like this?

Trying to justify drug use by using God as your excuse is really a
desperate attempt to convince only one person that drug use is OK yourself!
The rest of us aren't biting.

Cheryl Bicknase
Hampton