GO AFTER HARD DRUGS

As a member of the Mohawk nation, I commend the efforts to stem the
flow of drugs in our communities. However, those efforts oddly target
only marijuana growers and traffickers, and little or no effort is
expended controlling such destructive hard drugs as cocaine and heroin.

I feel that the authorities turn a blind eye to the hard-drug trade in
native communities as long as those problem remain in native
communities. Once drugs like marijuana find their way out of the
reserves, police take action. Why can't similar efforts and resources
be concentrated on the hard-drug traffickers and retailers who are
destroying our people and our future, not only on reserves but in
non-native communities also.

The implication that there is a connection between the tobacco trade
and drugs is quite farfetched. Many, if not most, people in the trade
don't involve themselves, nor do they support drug activity.

CLIFTON NICHOLAS

Kahnesatake