WHERE RESPONSIBILITY LIES

I began reading the editorial on shared responsibility with zeal thinking
that at last someone would state that dealers could not sell if there were
no loose teen cannons making the purchase ("Overdose Victim - Shared
responsibility in latest tragedy," Feb. 11). Yet I found myself once again
amazed that we prefer to focus on the group the young lady was with, rather
than the fact she was allowed to drop out of school and move in with
friends.

I am very sorry to condemn during a time of grief, but wake up, folks, you
cannot have it both ways: Either she is adult enough to live on her own or
she needs parental guidance and love while still a teen. Let's not ask
other teens to be our child's keeper when you already know peer pressure
and stupidity are part of the growth experience.

Filing negligence against the teens is preposterous if you are not holding
the adults responsible for losing touch with their job descriptions.

I do not cast stones. I, too, lost a teen in the Plano system. Our family
has paid the serious consequences of his actions and the lack of ours. We
hold no one to blame but ourselves.

K. WHITE, Dallas

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IT'S UP TO EACH OF US

I find Patricia Riley's attitude toward Natacha Campbell's friends very
disturbing (The Dallas Morning News, Feb. 9). I can't see how they can be
held responsible for Ms. Campbell's decisions. If they forced her to ingest
the drugs they would indeed be guilty of murder. But if it was Ms.
Campbell's decision . . . then I would have to ask her parents, and the
Plano family with whom she had been living, and Ms. Riley herself: How come
you allow a minor to stray off the right path so blatantly? Don't tell me
you didn't know! She had been to the funerals of two of her friends who
died of drug overdoses recently. That should have raised a flag with the
adults in Ms. Campbell's life.

My heart goes out to those who loved her, and my prayers are for her, but I
too am enraged with the lack of responsibility and vigilance that parents
and other adults display in most of these cases. Wake up! Look around and
see reality. Know your kids and those around them. Take swift action at the
first sign of trouble. It's up to us. Please don't try to place the blame
or the responsibility on others. If it's going to get
better, it's up to each of us.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, Plano

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VICTIMS OR CRIMINALS?

Re: Natacha Campbell.

Yet another Plano teen followed the footsteps of Janis Joplin, John Belushi
and a host of other dope heads who made their statement against the mores
of society by supporting drug cartels and organized crime. They have
increased our taxes, stolen our property and contributed to the deaths of
thousands, yet they expect us to consider them as "victims" rather than the
criminals they are.

Lawyer Patricia Riley states, "The only thing she's guilty of is bad
judgment. But that shouldn't be punished by death."

Join the world of reality, Mrs. Riley. Natacha showed she was already
"brain dead" when she made her very own decision to use drugs. Mrs. Riley,
she was not "punished" by anyone; she earned and carried out her very own
death sentence.

CURT HOSKINS, Lufkin