WHAT HAPPENED TO RIGHTS?

In a March 30 editorial, you say that New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson's
statement, "Why should we put someone in jail for doing something in the
privacy of their own home that is arguably only doing harm to themselves?"
is illogical because there is no guarantee that drug use will be confined to
an individual's home and only harm that specific individual. As far as
confining drug taking to the home, tobacco smoking is now widely prohibited
in many buildings with only minor problems (except for government mandated
bans in restaurants and bars), so why wouldn't a marijuana ban or heroin ban
work just as well?

As for the harm argument, by that criterion, the only activity allowed by
our friendly government would be sleeping in our own beds - alone. There is
"no guarantee" that, by doing anything else, we will not harm others. In
life, there are no guarantees.

This is silly. We have the God-given right to ingest any substance.

ALAN RANDELL

Victoria, B.C., Canada