PAIN NO EXCUSE FOR BREAKING LAW

In regard to the admission by radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh that he is
addicted to drugs, Floridians should not allow this to be swept away like
sand from the door step.

By his own admission, Limbaugh is involved in a crime. He should be in
front of a judge who will decide whether he belongs in jail with those who
Limbaugh has repeatedly said on his show "deserve to be there" for
soliciting, procuring, possessing and using drugs.

He made a conscious choice to circumvent legal avenues to obtain controlled
substances, instead deciding to do so illegally. That he had pain is no excuse.

Just ask the woman I work with who has to attend a pain management class to
keep her from being dependent on pain medication so she can continue to
work and care for her children.

Ask the people without jobs, insurance or both how it feels to have an
agonizing toothache for months with no relief.

Ask the people who can't afford to go to the doctor, or even pay for
prescriptions when they have pneumonia or injuries. Instead, they must
endure and suffer.

Ask me. I worked without drugs as a waitress, wearing a body brace for
seven years as a result of herniated vertebral discs.

I won't give Limbaugh a pass, and the state of Florida shouldn't either.
The state has the duty to treat him the same way ordinary citizens are
treated when they break the drug laws of this nation.

Aprille Terzieff, Cocoa