DESIGNER-DRUG DEATH

WHEN I READ MARK BOAL'S ARTICLE on the designer-drug underground [RS888], I
was horrified and sad, like driving by a hideous train wreck that you can't
took away from. I know people like Joshua Robbins. Most of the time they're
fun to live through vicariously, and sometimes they're not so fun. Luckily,
all of them are still around. There will always be willing buyers eager to
go where no one else dares. There will always be sad parents and loved ones
left behind, mourning their loss. Such is life.

MARK LONGBINE, Austin, Texas

NOTHING CAN BE DONE FOR THE INDIVIDUALS who do not thoroughly investigate
the substances they put into their bodies. People who ingest psychedelics,
or any drug, for that matter, without doing background research on doses
and appropriate conditions under which to take them, are the ones who will
eventually overdose. Joshua Robbins may have excelled in classes at school,
but taking, so many drugs in such a short period of time shows utter stupidity.

A. GIVEN, Chicago, Illinois

YOU SEEM TO BE PREOCCUPIED the idea that this Seventeen year-old died from
his abuse of a legal drug. Thousands of teens die every year after
poisoning themselves with alcohol, another legal drug, You make it seem as
if he would still be alive if some kind of regulation had been in place or
if a warning label had been included. Oh, please. The scumbag who sold him
the stuff told him not to ingest it. Unfortunately, Josh Robbins was not
nearly as exceptional as your article implies early on.

Drugs didn't kill him; his all-too-typical adolescent behavior did.

SCOTT MCINTYRE via the Internet