DON'T BE FOOLED -- DRUGS DO KILL

To the editor:

Letter writer Alan Randell would suggest we legalize all drugs. When you
come down, read on.

In 1956, I, a 12-year-old boy, befriended a genius. At 10 years of age,
Tony played the classics on the piano by heart. He didn't go to a normal
school. He went to UTS (University of Toronto Schools). He studied at the
Royal Conservatory of Music and completed the 10-year course in five years.

Tony and I had a business. We bought fisherman's knives and converted them
into switchblades and sold them to students. We thought we were tough. Tony
introduced me to jazz and the classics, as well as some Eastern philosophy,
as his older brother was a diplomat in the Far East. Time passed and drugs
entered the picture. Tony went on to bigger and better things. During those
years in Yorkville, Tony protected me from his friends who were cool. Pass
the joint.

We disconnected and reconnected several times. I watched him flourish and I
was there for some of his downers but obviously not enough. Tony's most
productive years were when he was critically acclaimed as the best jazz
pianist ever to come out of Toronto. His skills allowed him to play and
co-write with David Clayton Thomas before Blood, Sweat and Tears. But the
availability of drugs, despite Mr. Randall's legality challenge, killed
him. Another friend of mine, a high school buddy, wrote "God damn the
pusher." And he was born wild too.

The point is drugs kill, and worse, drugs destroy. The need, the cravings,
lead to the destruction of the human soul. May I sway you, Mr. Randell? I
insist.

Bernie Karras,
Ennismore

(A litany of tragedy is drugs' legacy.)