WARPED SENSIBILITIES

I agree with Hieger's statements in general: fear and ignorance are
poor deterrents. I would like to point out one flaw in his argument
that (may) cause some to discount it.

The water supply in Israel has historically been poor, at best; in
place of water, unfermented wine was used at that time as a safe
source of water. Also it would have been considered socially
unacceptable to be drunk at a wedding, so in this case, the wine was
probably just white grape juice.

In addition, few scholars (though many Bible-thumpers) will disagree
with the statement that the Bible teaches only to avoid drunkenness --
not that alcohol or drugs, by extension, are immoral.

The most effective campaign to date to reduce teen smoking has been
via advertising (the Truth campaign) that makes it "uncool" and points
out the dangers. Such a plan would probably work with drugs and
alcohol as well, without causing breakdowns in communications with
teenagers that make substance abuse so dangerous.

I do not believe acceptance of substance use as a normal phase is a
good thing, however, what we are currently doing now does cause more
harm than good.

Ryan Faircloth, Lakeland, Fla.