CHILDREN SHOULD PUT US ALL ON THE SAME PAGE

I'm pleased that the editorial "Drug legalization not child's play" was
published. It means our area is concerned about this issue.

We are on the same page when it comes to the bottom line: the children.

Consider for a moment that most adults who smoke marijuana already have made
that choice.

Ask yourself: Who are you afraid of on a Friday night - the marijuana smoker
or the drunken driver?

Our police are busy harassing the marijuana smoker, and the drunken driver
is busy having wrecks. One might think that because most counties around
here are dry, the police would pay attention to all the boozers driving
miles and miles to get their fix.

Consider for a moment that only 2 percent of our nation suffers from
addiction to illegal narcotics. And yes, there are some families that need
to break some chains. But we have been trying to incarcerate this problem
away for 40-some years. Why can't we try something else? Why can't we at
least discuss it without all this paranoia?

The work done by Panhandle Assessment Center is wonderful, but as I said,
only 2 percent of our nation is addicted to illegal drugs. What are we so
afraid of? Please begin to judge them not guilty, for they need help, not
prison.

And, as a member of Drug Policy Reformers of Texas, I would ask we not be
labeled "legalizers." We prefer regulation to separate children from the
black market, to separate those who deserve prison from those who are ill,
to allow the medicinal use of marijuana, to keep the stats such as those of
PAC from growing.

Let's save the children from the illicit market. Let's try something new and
out of the box before all of our children are in the box. Yours might be
next!

Debra Cochrain
Fritch