WIDESPREAD PANIC NEEDS TO EDUCATE FANS ABOUT DRUG RISKS

After reading about the recent drug arrests by Alabama police at a
Widespread Panic show, I've become convinced that the supertalented band
needs to do more to educate their fans. Just as a nation should renounce
lethal terrorism of wayward citizens, the leaders of the Widespread nation
should publicly warn their loyal fans of the dangers of lethal drugs like
Oxycontin and ''X.'' There are still a lot of concert-goers who believe
that X is a gentle psychedlic with no lethal toxicity, like LSD or DMT from
the 1960s. Many young concert-goers take illegal Oxycontin pills, seeking
thrills, not realizing that the drug is a depressant whose effects can
multiply dramatically when mixed with small amounts of alcohol. While I'm
sure the parents of one ''overdose tour'' victim (as reported by your
paper) enjoyed watching the Alabama police making arrests, that is no
solution -- everyone knows that jailing dealers just makes room for new
dealers, and statistics show prisons to be ineffective at preventing repeat
offenses. The silliest thing about the whole ''bust'' was that officers
were apparently targeting marijuana users as well as those of harder drugs.
Marijuana? C'mon, now, folks. Reefer never killed anybody. If saving lives
is the first priority, which it should be, then police should not waste
time on the soft stuff. Some effort needs to be taken to separate harmless
merchandise, like T-shirts, food and marijuana, from the lethal
merchandise, such as X, Oxycontin pills, etc. A good starting point would
be an public appeal from Widespread to their fans not to use drugs which
could kill them and ruin an otherwise fun concert.

Alan Gordon