EDITORIAL OPINIONATED

Re: Fixing their heads (editorial, April 24).

What happened to responsible editorial? In the latest exhibition of
The Citizen's support of drug abuse, your pathetic attempts to be hip
by use of the subcultural references 4/20 (and thus the implied
intimacy with "the Waldos" and "the Dead") makes your agenda
abundantly clear. Unfortunately it does not state with the same level
of dementia the illegitimacy of your cause, either morally or in law.

It's high time somebody took a look at the source of your paycheque
and personal affiliations, because you write in support of your
obviously personal idiosyncrasies much too often.

Your irrational comments and irresponsible attempts at levity,
regarding "stimulus" and "grab(bing) a bong" do nothing to support
any arguments pertaining to the legalization vs. prohibition
discourse. They simply add fuel to a fire and give legitimacy to
behavioiur that results in high school students finishing up in class, stoned.

Perhaps of more import is the fact that your research is the result
of notional comments based on spurious sources. Your attempts at
legitimacy by reference to Milton Friedman, the Economist (and Bruce
Strachan?) reflect your populist comments as referred to in my
previous paragraph and your unwillingness (inability?) to discuss
this serious matter in an acceptable manner.

The danger behind both your stance and style of reporting on this
subject is that many people use the Grade 5 level presentations that
your paper spews out to legitimize their own behaviour. The results
of your artless comparisons create major problems, not only in the
school environment, but in the wider community. Your paragraph "The
better decision would be legalizing all drugs..." sets the stage for
personal behaviours that are illegal yet are semi-legitimized by your
puerile comments because "they were in the newspaper ....thus I can
do this now, its OK."

I, as no doubt many parents will be, am thoroughly disgusted by your
penultimate and final paragraphs. I am seriously forced to ask myself
the question: What in God's name was this man smoking when he wrote this piece?

Mike C. Shepherd

Prince George