POLICE OVERREACHING ON PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

In response to "Why police want prescription drug data" (March 16 For the
Record):

I find Chief Darrel W. Stephens' case limp, to say the least. The bottom
line is this: Police want the power to inspect at will - without a search
warrant - any and all prescription drug records of any citizen in North
Carolina.

It doesn't matter how the chief spins it, the result is the loss of
prescription privacy for all North Carolinians. Chief Stephens benignly
argues that his people "don't have time to go on `fishing expeditions'" and
that in the "overwhelming majority" of cases they request information on
only controlled substances. This revelation doesn't make me feel
particularly warm and fuzzy.

Politicians are so afraid to appear soft on drugs that they will support
almost any drug law regardless of how it affects our privacy or individual
liberties. If you open up the possibility for abuse, there will be abuse.
It's plain and simple.

H. PRESTON METHENEY

Charlotte