DRUG TEST EDITORIAL OFF-BASE ON PRIVACY

To the Editor,

Your editorial in the Dec. 28 News Bulletin missed the mark by a wide
margin (Drug testing ruling off-base, Dec. 28).

Privacy is not forfeited totally by persons in prison, nor is it
appropriate that the privacy of persons on probation should be voided. For
example, we do not require that prisoners be nude at all times to avoid
them concealing weapons.

When we parole a prisoner, we are a "trying to move him back into the a
"community. Part of that process is to help them to take control of their
lives again. What control do they have if they can be stopped and searched
intrusively at any time?

If your logic is to be followed to its natural extreme, all alcohol should
be banned, and all of us should be subject to these intrusive
investigations to prevent crime. You seem to desire to create a police
state in Canada. Shame on you.

Bruce Symington

Medicine Hat Alta.