RIDGE AND BUSH

Watching the Republican convention video of Gov. Tom Ridge sitting next to George W. Bush on President Eisenhower's farm at Gettysburg, I was struck with repulsion.

Ridge violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was created by Bush's father. Ridge signed into law a bill last year that discriminates against opiate-dependent individuals, making it nearly impossible to open a treatment center that dispenses methadone medication. The National Institutes of Health indicates that methadone is the only effective treatment for opiate dependence.

If there is a war on drugs, Ridge has retreated. His budget cut $10 million from drug treatment. Drug treatment is several times more effective in reducing crime than money spent on law enforcement.

Perhaps it is appropriate that Ridge was on the Eisenhower Farm. Having neither made a stand against drugs, or a charge, Ridge sits on the sidelines.

Robert E. Griffin

Forty Fort