Smoking Laws too Onerous

Longport, N.J. If you picked up a baseball bat and
threatened to hit yourself in the head, I might try to talk
you out of it. But I have no right to forcibly stop you. I
sure wouldn't have the police harass you, lock you in jail
or possibly shoot you if you resist. But that is exactly
what we do to people who use drugs.

What has this country come to? Are you so intent on
forcing everyone to obey your tyrannical dictates that you
are willing to destroy peoples' lives while pretending to
save them from themselves?

The war on drugs cannot and will not be won. It
would take a government that is so cruel, so brutal, so
overwhelmingly powerful that it could dictate absolutely
anything. Is that the America you want?

Stop this insane war on drugs now.

Gary Lloyd

Trenton

I am a coowner of a Detroit business. I am also a
husband and father of two children. I would never advocate
that they or anyone else put drugs in their body. But the
sad truth is that there will always be an element in our
society who will seek escape whether their drug of
choice is legal or not.

In order to reduce crime like the recent crack head
who robbed my store at gunpoint I propose that we not
only legalize drugs, but give them away for free. The truth
is that those who would abuse drugs are the ones who would
abuse their fellow man.

If in the long run society's offal were to weed
themselves out, I would weep little, preferring to bury
them than they I.

Michael Crane

Detroit

This new smoking law is pretty outrageous ("Young tobacco
buyers need photo ID beginning today," Feb. 28). It was a
good idea to raise the purchase age to 18, but being asked
for identification until you are 27 is ridiculous. You
could be 30, have no ID and you wouldn't be able to buy
cigarettes. Government officials are making smoking look
worse than drinking.

Why did the federal government make this law instead of
the local or state government? Patrick B. Kelly

Redford

Why, at 42 years of age, should I have to show
identification to purchase tobacco products? Our rights and
freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution are being
thrown right out of the window.

Kids should not smoke. However, by not letting a
17yearold purchase cigarettes, the powers that be are
saying they have to steal or find someone willing to break
the law to get tobacco products.

There are more serious problems in this world that the
government could spend our tax dollars on. How much more
are we going to let them take control of? Everyone gets
down on the militia and other antigovernment groups. Well,
maybe we should start listening. At least they believe in
our rights and our freedoms.

Deborah Williamson

Beaverton The new federal regulations on the sale of
cigarettes are too lenient. Retailers keep cigarettes
prominent in our culture. But they have had 25 years to
revise their business plans.

Restricting cigarette sales by age is counterproductive.
It causes youth to associate smoking with maturity and
adulthood.

I have a convenience store with a deli. No cigarettes.
Yet people ask for them every day. I wish I could invite
the world to stand behind my counter and watch smokers'
faces light up when I tell them, "I have too much respect
for you to sell you cigarettes."

Experience with Prohibition rules out a ban on
cigarettes. But a logical solution is staring us in the
face remove cigarettes from stores and move them to
distribution centers that resemble methadone clinics.
Structure the distribution so nobody benefits from
cigarette sales. We cannot pass this addictive carcinogen
to future generations just to benefit retailers.

Mike Placentra

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This new smoking law is pretty outrageous ("Young tobacco
buyers need photo ID beginning today," Feb. 28). It was a
good idea to raise the purchase age to 18, but being asked
for identification until you are 27 is ridiculous. You
could be 30, have no ID and you wouldn't be able to buy
cigarettes. Government officials are making smoking look
worse than drinking.

Why did the federal government make this law instead of
the local or state government? Patrick B. Kelly

Redford

Why, at 42 years of age, should I have to show
identification to purchase tobacco products? Our rights and
freedoms guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution are being
thrown right out of the window.

Kids should not smoke. However, by not letting a
17yearold purchase cigarettes, the powers that be are
saying they have to steal or find someone willing to break
the law to get tobacco products.

There are more serious problems in this world that the
government could spend our tax dollars on. How much more
are we going to let them take control of? Everyone gets
down on the militia and other antigovernment groups. Well,
maybe we should start listening. At least they believe in
our rights and our freedoms.

Deborah Williamson

Beaverton The new federal regulations on the sale of
cigarettes are too lenient. Retailers keep cigarettes
prominent in our culture. But they have had 25 years to
revise their business plans.

Restricting cigarette sales by age is counterproductive.
It causes youth to associate smoking with maturity and
adulthood.

I have a convenience store with a deli. No cigarettes.
Yet people ask for them every day. I wish I could invite
the world to stand behind my counter and watch smokers'
faces light up when I tell them, "I have too much respect
for you to sell you cigarettes."

Experience with Prohibition rules out a ban on
cigarettes. But a logical solution is staring us in the
face remove cigarettes from stores and move them to
distribution centers that resemble methadone clinics.
Structure the distribution so nobody benefits from
cigarette sales. We cannot pass this addictive carcinogen
to future generations just to benefit retailers.

Mike Placentra

Longport, N.J. If you picked up a baseball bat and
threatened to hit yourself in the head, I might try to talk
you out of it. But I have no right to forcibly stop you. I
sure wouldn't have the police harass you, lock you in jail
or possibly shoot you if you resist. But that is exactly
what we do to people who use drugs.

What has this country come to? Are you so intent on
forcing everyone to obey your tyrannical dictates that you
are willing to destroy peoples' lives while pretending to
save them from themselves?

The war on drugs cannot and will not be won. It
would take a government that is so cruel, so brutal, so
overwhelmingly powerful that it could dictate absolutely
anything. Is that the America you want?

Stop this insane war on drugs now.

Gary Lloyd

Trenton

I am a coowner of a Detroit business. I am also a
husband and father of two children. I would never advocate
that they or anyone else put drugs in their body. But the
sad truth is that there will always be an element in our
society who will seek escape whether their drug of
choice is legal or not.

In order to reduce crime like the recent crack head
who robbed my store at gunpoint I propose that we not
only legalize drugs, but give them away for free. The truth
is that those who would abuse drugs are the ones who would
abuse their fellow man.

If in the long run society's offal were to weed
themselves out, I would weep little, preferring to bury
them than they I.

Michael Crane

Detroit