STAY OUT OF DOWNTOWN

EDITOR: I now know for sure that drug use, including the use of Meth-adone,
be it legal or illegal, does impede a person's ability to think clearly.

At the June meeting in Jones-borough, the supporters of the proposed clinic
repeatedly missed the mark by discussing the benefits of such a clinic.

I wish the clinic supporters would try to see through the haze and focus on
the issue that we have discussed for many months now.

We are not opposed to the clinic. We are opposed to its location. Two much
better suited locations seem ideal: The Medical Center (if you have indeed
a medical problem) and adjacent to the City Police Station (for your
immediate protection).

Dear neighborhood drug users, addicts, recovering former users, you have
made bad choices in the past and we still respect your right to return to
lives in dignity. But I can assure you (if you haven't already noticed)
that we will not tolerate this clinic to operate in an area of our
community which has a lot of trouble with drugs already. We will not simply
"turn over" a plighted part of our community to drug dealers, just as you
are not discarded as recovering addicts.

I promise to fight the proposed location regardless if a commission in
Nashville approved the application or not. Drug dealers, private,
corporate, undercover: Get out and stay out of downtown Johnson City.

ROGER HAUSMANN

Johnson City