RADIO STATION TAKES MARIJUANA USE TOO LIGHTLY

Most people who have teens have learned what 420 means. It is the "best
time to smoke pot." It doesn't matter why.

The matter which prompted me to write this letter was the easy attitude,
tolerant to the point of condoning pot use, taken by a public media. I am a
fairly tolerant person when it comes to what other people do with their
time, their lives. But if a radio station, such as KMTT, condones its use
by accepting calls from users, playing songs about smoking weed, does not
accept calls from someone who has reason to be angered by such tolerance by
a public media, they are not being responsible to their listeners of all
ages. I am intolerant of media messages which can have a negative impact on
my impressionable child.

There is a reason marijuana is not allowed in our schools or if a student
is suspended from sports if they test positive. Its use directly affects
the performance of a great many students. Their grades plummet, their
friends change to only those who also use, they often become defiant at
home. Young people who go on to other drugs do so because "weed was fun, I
am young, therefore invincible, I will not become addicted, there is no
chance that I will die, so I'll try something else." Youth react
differently to first-time use because they are so susceptible to wanting to
fit in, wanting a rush, adventure. Rehab facilities are full of young
people whose lives and families have spun out of control from weed. Others
are sent after they have experimented further. Some parents have found
their child in the morgue.

On-air personality Marty Reimer, KMTT and all public media have a
responsibilty to not take use of weed lightly (on the air) for the health
of their young listeners.

Lois Bancroft

Auburn