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The letter below refers to the
Perspectives article posted in LDN on Nov. 13:
___
To the editor:
Kelly McEvers was right about Lincoln.
I fear you're wrong about the drug situation in Lincoln. Talk to
local counselors about booze-fueled domestic abuse. It's pretty bad
in this town. Yes, alcohol is a drug. It just happens to be legal.
Then there is heroin. Peoria hospitals report an alarming increase
in heroin overdose cases, and I would bet that our hospital would
show the same. Of course, a lot of ODs aren't reported for fear of
tangling with the law. (By the way, I wonder if our medical
community is telling our local heroin users about kits that are
available to treat overdoses and save lives. If Cory Montieth had
been alerted to the existence of such a kit, there'd probably be a
Finn on Glee this fall.)
Every time the local media run the Lincoln/Logan County police
blotter, half the stories are about busts for pot. Why are we
arresting people who get high on pot but licensing bars that help
people get high on booze? Here's why: Booze is for the middle and
upper class. Pot is for penniless students and those stuck in
grinding poverty. We need to change our drug laws. The so-called
"War on Drugs" was lost decades ago.
[to top of second column in this letter] |
 By the way, if you want to know why you can buy a hit of heroin
in Lincoln for about 5 to 10 bucks -- cheaper than a bottle of Jack
Daniels -- it's because the nation of Afghanistan (the place where
we've spent trillions of our tax dollars to change the local
economy) hasn't changed very much, except to increase its production
of poppies, which are made into heroin, which is shipped to Lincoln.
Pay your U.S. income tax and support heroin distribution in Lincoln.
That's the long and short of it.
We could change this. But doctors and pastors and attorneys and
mayors and editors would have to speak up. That probably isn't going
to happen. We're going to have to rely on Kelly McEvers and NPR.
Here's NPR's story (Wednesday) about booming heroin production in
Afghanistan:
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/
mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=
false&id=245057706&m=245060035
Gary Davis
[Posted
November 16, 2013]
Click here to send a note to the editor about this
letter.
For previously posted responses to
the Nov. 13 commentary on Kelly McEvers' NPR article,
click here.
(Responses from Jeanne Ludwig, Frankie Guzzardo, Phil Bertoni
and Bill Gossett) |
