DRUGS KILL--PERIOD

I am the uncle of Sara Aeschlimann, the 18-year-old Naperville girl who
died of an overdose of PMA. My sister's one wish out of this tragedy is
that the story could serve as a warning to everyone, especially young
people, not to take drugs.

Although it hurts to see Sara's name again on the front page of the paper
["Teen drug alert," May 22], it is of some comfort to see that it is
associated with a warning about PMA. It did, however, cause me great
distress and anger to see the associated story, "Ecstasy users know to lay
off the alcohol." The story points out that X users don't drink
alcohol--not because of the health risk of mixing drugs and alcohol, but
because they know that alcohol "reduces the effect," and that drinking
water keeps them from being dehydrated, "a side effect of the drug." Good
thing these people know how to counter those nasty side effects of
potentially deadly drugs! The next four paragraphs deal with all the
wonderful benefits and great feelings you have when you take the drug. I
don't get it: Is it supposed to be journalistic balance and fairness to
warn about the bad stuff and then tell everybody how great the real X is?
If I was at all interested in using ecstasy, you've just given me a real
good reason to do it.

The message is, don't use drugs. Period. Don't glorify it. Don't explain
it. Drugs kill! Sara is dead. My sister and brother-in-law lost their only
child; my mother, her oldest granddaughter; my kids, a special cousin.

Dr. Bruce VanderSchaaf, Downers Grove