DAMPEN THE SPIRITS

Another school year starts, and another beer riot takes place. It was
happening when I was in school 30 years ago, and it continues today. The
police say, "You get a lot of young people who are relatively inexperienced
with alcohol and relatively inexperienced with life, and you get them away
from home for the first time... " and "You get a huge number of kids with a
large amount of alcohol, and in that group they will do things that
individually they would never, never do. And you get a few kids doing some
stupid things, and pretty soon others join in." ("Trouble has often found a
home on Greek Row," Local News, Sept. 30.)

It's accurate to say that college beer blasts, although they rarely
escalate into riots, are perennial events producing complaints, property
damage, illness, assault, and -- far too often -- rape. The problem is
alcohol, as acknowledged by the police and the universities, and a society
that condones its use.

So, remind me again, why is alcohol legal and marijuana illegal? I've never
heard of a riot "fueled by pot."

Ed Leach, Issaquah