CHECK THE FACTS; HOLLAND ROCKS

Dutch Tolerance: Responses To "This Country Can't Afford To Go Dutch,"
Issue, Sept. 30

What Larry Tomczak wrote about Holland's laws is true, but his conclusion
that life here is somehow horrible because of them (and American life would
be intolerable if it were like Holland) is off the mark.

Life expectancy in Holland is higher and the infant mortality rate lower
than in the United States; affordable health care is available to all; the
air and water are clean; the number of births per teenage girls is the
lowest in the world; drug-related crime is almost nonexistent; there is
civil debate between people with differing views.

It is intolerance and hate that lead to a poor quality of life. America
would do well to study the Dutch society.

Mike Harris, Wassenaar, The Netherlands