RILED UP ABOUT DRUG BUST

I READ with amazement the comments made by parents of students arrested in
the Seminole County drug bust. Some said they were angry at the sheriff's
office because their children sold only small amounts of marijuana to an
undercover officer after she, supposedly, nagged them repeatedly.

What message does that send to our children?

That when pressured by others, it's OK to commit a crime? Did these
students have some sort of handicap (other than poor judgment and lack of
morality) that prevented them from saying "NO!"? And why did they have
drugs to sell in the first place?

By defending their children's actions, these parents are defending their
children's possession and probable use of illegal drugs.

Although I know that many of these parents grew up in a time when marijuana
use was commonplace, the bottom line is that possession of and intent to
sell drugs are crimes. Period.

It is scary to think these are the kind of values parents are teaching our
youth, the so-called leaders of tomorrow. Tomorrow may be scarier indeed.

Amy Pempel, Lake Mary

VALUABLE LESSON

IT JUST amazes that the parents of these children who were accused of
selling drugs, no matter what the quantity, are angry at the police for
doing their job. The last time I looked, it was illegal to sell, purchase
or possess any kind of scheduled drug, be it marijuana or their mother's
prescription medication.

These parents should be applauding the police and their efforts to clean up
our schools of this kind of influence. As a taxpayer, whose tax dollar goes
to the public school system, I don't want to provide a haven for drugs to
be pushed through our schools.

These kids may feel that they have only made a mistake, but the mistake
they are accused of was an illegal mistake. Illegal means against the law.
Underpaid cops are paid to arrest people they suspect of breaking the law.

As far as I'm concerned, law enforcement and the judicial system have
provided a very valuable lesson that these "mistakes" will not be tolerated.

L.A. Tompkins, Altamonte Springs