'SILLY' LETTER HAD MERIT

EDITOR:

Thank you, Steve Lusk, for your letter; maybe it was facetious, but it
was not without merit.

It has drawn some negative criticism. There are some who think it
"silly" and are unable to see a precedent to a liberal policy toward
dangerous drugs. Some cannot see a connection to any victim.

One letter writer compared the legalization of marijuana to post
prohibition, saying our standards haven't changed. Alcohol is another
seemingly innocuous substance that is one of the most expensive both
personally and to society. Does anyone doubt there are victims?
Everyone becomes a victim.

Why do they think they call it being "under the influence?" Tell it to
the children burying a parent lost to alcohol's physical devastation,
or the highway patrolman who must tell the parents their child was
killed by a drunk driver. Tell it to the little woman trying to hold
together family and finances whose husband spends his wages on booze,
has wrecked the car again, and she is all too accustomed to his
abusive, drunken stupor. Tell it to the taxpayer supporting the drunk
tank and the homeless shelter; and proclaim it in the hospital wards,
to insurance underwriters, employment and safety officials.

MICHAEL VANHAVERBEKE

Erwin