DRUGS, KIDS AND CRIME

I read with interest Laurie Mustard's piece on student drug abuse, in which
he said: "Ponder this: 99% of the kids doing drugs today are probably very
decent, moral people. But if you follow the drug money out of the province
to its ultimate destination, you'll find the people you are supporting,
making filthy rich, in fact, are people who don't care whether you or your
friends die, as long as they get their money."

Consider this -- if you get these kids to do some serious pondering, they
may realize that there's another large group of people who don't much care
if drug-using kids live or die. These are the politicians and other
drug-war profiteers who continue to insist that only ruthless criminals be
allowed to distribute these dangerous substances. That is, after all, the
only certain outcome of prohibiting drugs.

As Mustard points out, ruthless criminals have no regard for the best
interests of children.

Ray Aldridge
Ft. Walton Beach, Fla.

(Legalizing illegal drugs isn't the answer.)