DRUG PROBLEM IN AMERICA CALLS FOR SEVERE MEASURES

I am writing in response to the Jan. 17 letter by Mr. Mark Knick. Mr. Knick
believes the Athens-Clarke County Police Department had wrongly seized an
82-year-old woman's home. I question why Mr. Knick is so quick to jump on
the defensive wagon?

If Mr. Knick were remotely familiar with the circumstances in which this
lady's home was seized by police, he most definitely would support our law
enforcement in these efforts. Police had been out there numerous times on
drug complaints from neighbors and warned this lady several times, yet
there was no compliance on her part to stop her son and his "customers"
from using her home for their transactions; and yes, Mr. Knick, there are
provisions in our law books on this matter, in laymen terms: We cannot
allow illegal drug activity on our property and expect to look "innocent."

I'm assuming by Mr. Knick's statement that "our schools are filling up with
armed policemen and search dogs" that those actions by officials are
unnecessary also? My kids should have the right to go to school and not
worry about being caught up in the cross-fire from a drug deal gone bad by
their peers; my kids should have the right to walk in neighborhoods and not
pass by a home plagued by drug activity like the one seized by our law
enforcement.

With that said Mr. Knick, it's not America that needs to "wake up, "it's
you. We're at war, not only with foreign entities, but with drug dealers
and those who harbor them, as well as blind people who are too worried
about "freedoms" and "rights" when safety and getting drugs off the street
should be paramount!

You mention the "Constitution" -- may I remind you that a lot has changed
in our world since the Constitution was written. Surely our forefathers
would expect our country's governing bodies to protect our society from
situations such as drug dealings. Which side are you on: getting drugs out
of our society or protecting those who bring them in?

Christopher Fugett