WAR'S MORAL INJUSTICE

I read with dismay E.F. Banks' heartless response to Thom Marshall's
progressive column of Jan. 12 about the injustice of the war on drugs.

How simple the world must seem to Banks, how very black and
white.

Reality, however, paints a very different picture.

I pity those who hide their heads in the sand, speaking platitudes
such as "just say no" or "the solution is simple: don't do drugs."

In theory, the solution to the drug problem is simple: Just don't do
drugs.

But real life is not so simple.

As the parent of a child who died from a drug overdose, I cannot turn
my back on reality.

My son was depressed and like many, he sought to medicate himself to
relieve his suffering.

Because of the dismal failure of our current drug prevention strategy,
he easily found and injected unregulated heroin.

As a society, we must seek and find better solutions.

Simply turning our backs on those who need help by making moral
judgements will not solve this problem.

Jennifer Daley,
Houston