ALCOHOL-SALES STINGS A WASTE; TARGET OXYCONTIN TRAFFICKERS

In response to the article "Charges dropped in beer stings" (Dec. 21): I
applaud The Post for featuring this story because it hits a nerve that many
ignore. In this case, deputies sank to new depths by using a 20-year-old
man with a beard and receding hairline as a ruse for entrapping waiters and
gas-station clerks.

In an effort to save the poor teenagers who illegally are sold alcohol,
deputies decided to prey upon stressed-out, blue-collar citizens in the
service industry. As if these people don't have enough worries, they have
to agonize about fake IDs and undercover officers. The Martin County
Sheriff's Office needs to realize two things: The waiters are not the
underage drinkers, they are the victims here; and underage drinking is not
the biggest problem in Stuart.

I was born and raised in Stuart and attended local public schools. Along
with anyone younger than 25 in Stuart, I know that the bigger problem is
not alcohol abuse but prescription-drug abuse. I have attended more
funerals than my own parents have because of one pill: OxyContin.

This painkiller, which contains oxycodone, helps many who actually need it,
but for young adults, it can become an addiction that leads to death. Some
of my friends and acquaintances from Jensen Beach, Stuart, Sewall's Point
and Palm City have checked in and out of rehab, ruined their lives or died
before they even hit college. In 2004, January through June, 3,510 people
in Florida died with oxycodone in their blood stream, according to the
Interim Report By Florida Medical Examiners' Commission On Drugs Identified
In Deceased Persons, issued in November.

There is no one to blame for their deaths but themselves, but the issue
that Stuart officials and police are missing is this: It is easier for a
Martin County teenager to obtain OxyContin than beer. If the police want to
make a difference in this county, first they need to realize the true
problem. I hope this letter will open the eyes of the community so that the
epidemic can stop now.

BARBARA KIBBEY

Gainesville

Editor's note: Barbara Kibbey is a pre-law student at the University of Florida.