TOO SENSATIONAL

I remember when Nancy Reagan would sit on Mr. T's lap and tell the kiddies
"just say no." I still laugh. I remember as a teen in the 80s how, according
to the experts, all of us were hooked on drugs. But beer was the only drug I
tried until I was 18. Of course beer is legal, so that is okay, I suppose.

I saw the cover of your newspaper last Monday and rolled my eyes in disgust.
Just a little too sensational don't you think?

Here is some news for you. Heroin and opiates in general have been around
for a long time. Thomas Jefferson grew poppies for the opium gum they
produce. You might recall the Victorian era fictional character Sherlock
Holmes. In the original stories he was a heroin junkie.

The Lewis and Clark expedition was supplied with an enormous amount of opium
supplied by our government. God bless America.

Why can't you people think out of the little box you live in? The word is
out. Heroin is bad, capital B, bad. But the most damaging thing is the war
on (some) drugs.

Until the people demand that heroin is re-legalized we are going to have a
problem of petty crime, disease, evil drug dealers and trigger-happy
police.

Is this an invitation to fight the status quo by using drugs? No. Actually
it is an invitation to restore the 10th amendment. Read the Bill of Rights
sometime. You might be amazed.

Ronald Johnson

Montpelier