Letters to the Editor 09-23-2002
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By -
- War On Drugs - Abortion - Doctor's Advice - Dalton - Sports Funding
War On Drugs
Editor, Times-Union:I would like to comment on the articles titled "War on Drugs," submitted by Daniel Stevens which was printed in the Sept. 17 edition.
I totally agree with Mr. Stevens' statement that the "War on Drugs" is a war on ourselves. For over two decades this country has been waging the "War on Drugs." We are not winning and it can never be won. Any politician or official that says it can be won is not only lying to himself but also to the voting public. Drug use cannot be stopped any more than alcohol use could be stopped during the years of prohibition. It took this country 10 years to realize that alcohol use could not be stopped and that alcoholism should be looked at as a health problem and not a criminal one. How long is it going to take for this country to realize the same thing pertaining to the use of other drugs? For those of you that do not think so, alcohol is a drug. It is the drug that causes more deaths, affects more lives and costs this country more money than all the other drugs put together ... and it is legal.
When it comes to the matter of peoples' choices and vices, no matter what the laws against such things might be, there will always be a percentage of people that will choose to do what they desire, even if it is against the law. Thee are now over two million people in our prisons, and that's not even counting the people in the jails, work-release centers, on parole or on probation. Over 75 percent of these people were convicted of drug-related offenses and many of them were given outlandish sentences for being addicts in possession or small-time street dealers merely selling to support their addiction. A very large percentage of drug offenders receive much more severe sentences than violent offenders, sex offenders and/or repeat drunk drivers that have killed others in accidents while being drunk. I cannot understand the justice in that type of sentencing.
Within a matter of months after the declaration of the "War on Drugs," our jails and prisons were overflowing. Almost 90 percent of all the drug convictions were on lower middle class, poor and minority individuals. But statistics across the country have shown that only 45 percent of drug users come from these classes of people. Where does the other 55 percent of drug users come from? Why are the lower classes and minority people targeted far more than the upper classes? There again, it's a matter of money. Little or no money means a quick and easy conviction versus money for bonds, good lawyers and trials.
I am not trying to say that there shouldn't be laws against drugs. I am saying that sooner or later this country as a whole needs to realize that drug use can never be stopped completely no matter what all the politicians and law makers say. Drug addiction should be considered a health problem the same as alcoholism. They need to re-evaluate the drug laws and make adjustments in sentencing to make more treatment available to drug users instead of just locking them away, and in many cases, making them even more criminal by the time they are released. All you voters out there need to look at the total situation, too, and truly try to understand the whole picture.
P.S. The statistics I have used come from the Bureau of Justice.
Ken Schnitz
Warsaw
Abortion
Editor, Times-Union:I am writing in response to the current advertisement that is running on the WRSW 107.3 radio station. The radio advertisement is discussing the options of choosing life or abortion for an unwanted pregnancy. The ad goes into graphic, extensive detail of the physical aspects of an abortion, all the way from the dilation of the cervix, down to inserting scissors into the base of the fetus' skull. My personal opinion on abortion remains to be a non-issue in this situation.
This is completely offensive to me knowing that my school-age children are listening to this on their school buses and in the school offices. A public radio station needs to be conscientious of the listening audience in knowing that school-age children might be listening. Oddly enough, our child's school bus cannot listen to a local channel out of South Bend because of offensive lyrics contained in music. However, our children can listen to our local WRSW to be exposed to these explicit details of an abortion. I ask you, is this ad appropriate for this commercial to air?
After speaking with the radio station, I found out that this advertisement was paid for by a local church organization. I realize that the organization is going for a "shock" reaction from those who are unaware of all details surrounding abortion procedures. I think there are better ways of reaching unaware minds than destroying the innocence of our young children's minds. And we wonder where our children's innocence is going? Maybe we should ask ourselves.
Greta Henry
Warsaw
Doctor's Advice
Editor, Times-Union:Dr. Schuler's letter in Tuesday's paper (Sept. 17) is scary, especially for the "elderly," and I qualify for that unglamorous term. I will write to our senator, as Dr. Schuler suggests. Meanwhile, I am extremely thankful for my doctor (Dr. Turton) who carefully and consistently monitors my physical needs and cooperates with my neurosurgeon in Indy, Dr. Hall. I don't know how they escape the pressure Dr. Schuler describes but I have not had to be subjected to the horrors he relates, and I am appalled to think that some seniors in our area may have been. I hope that all of us - seniors, and seniors-in-the-making - will respond to Dr. Schuler's plea to write our senator and representative.
Grace Abbott
Warsaw
via e-mail
Dalton
Editor, Times-Union:In regards to the story written about Dalton. I'm just wondering if Charlie Smith has children to feed or bills to pay or if he has ever been employed by a polluting company or does he drive his car to and from work or was he thinking of the trees he was using when he cleaned the small glass table with paper towels instead of a cloth he could use again or does he recycle everything he can. I bet Charlie Smith was one of the men that got the racetrack shut down, too. The list can go on and on. Everyone has faults but this company employs a lot of people that are hard working that provide for their families that are depending on them. So why does Charlie Smith want to whine about something so petty when the economy is not that great right now. Why wasn't he trying to be a great family man instead of ruining a well-known company that has been in Warsaw providing for the town's people for almost 80 years. I think he should be thinking about the men that are overseas trying to keep our freedom, instead of worrying about the petty things. What is the purpose of having the men overseas if a man in our own town can take away the jobs we love? So what he has vibrations at his house, some people live by railroads their houses vibrate too, so what would we do with the railroads if there was a complaint with them? As for the filth, get out a cloth and clean it up, so what it takes longer and you have to wash the cloth then. Just leave the employers alone that still have business. I personally like the dirt, I know I will be able to sleep in comfort, eat and enjoy the extras in life with that paycheck. And if that dirt isn't at my house then I know these things wouldn't be possible, and I don't even live in Warsaw. Hope nothing hit home.
Bridget Baldwin
Etna Green
via e-mail
Sports Funding
Editor, Times-Union:I see by the news that the Indianapolis Colts professional football team is seeking tax dollars to help them with financial problems. We need to really feel sorry for them. They are paying their players millions of dollars, when they surely would play for a lot less. A player making $5 million per year certainly could get by if he were only getting $500,000, and I am certain that if that were the pay scale there would be an ample supply of players. It no doubt would be very difficult for them to get only seven bathrooms instead of 13 in their mansions, and only three Rolls Royces instead of six.
It is not right to use tax dollars to subsidize professional athletics. This is a private enterprise. The businesses who benefit from them, and the patrons, should provide the funding. We need to tell our representatives and governor in no uncertain terms that we will not stand for them to use our tax dollars in this manner.
Fred R. Yohey
Warsaw
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- War On Drugs - Abortion - Doctor's Advice - Dalton - Sports Funding
War On Drugs
Editor, Times-Union:I would like to comment on the articles titled "War on Drugs," submitted by Daniel Stevens which was printed in the Sept. 17 edition.
I totally agree with Mr. Stevens' statement that the "War on Drugs" is a war on ourselves. For over two decades this country has been waging the "War on Drugs." We are not winning and it can never be won. Any politician or official that says it can be won is not only lying to himself but also to the voting public. Drug use cannot be stopped any more than alcohol use could be stopped during the years of prohibition. It took this country 10 years to realize that alcohol use could not be stopped and that alcoholism should be looked at as a health problem and not a criminal one. How long is it going to take for this country to realize the same thing pertaining to the use of other drugs? For those of you that do not think so, alcohol is a drug. It is the drug that causes more deaths, affects more lives and costs this country more money than all the other drugs put together ... and it is legal.
When it comes to the matter of peoples' choices and vices, no matter what the laws against such things might be, there will always be a percentage of people that will choose to do what they desire, even if it is against the law. Thee are now over two million people in our prisons, and that's not even counting the people in the jails, work-release centers, on parole or on probation. Over 75 percent of these people were convicted of drug-related offenses and many of them were given outlandish sentences for being addicts in possession or small-time street dealers merely selling to support their addiction. A very large percentage of drug offenders receive much more severe sentences than violent offenders, sex offenders and/or repeat drunk drivers that have killed others in accidents while being drunk. I cannot understand the justice in that type of sentencing.
Within a matter of months after the declaration of the "War on Drugs," our jails and prisons were overflowing. Almost 90 percent of all the drug convictions were on lower middle class, poor and minority individuals. But statistics across the country have shown that only 45 percent of drug users come from these classes of people. Where does the other 55 percent of drug users come from? Why are the lower classes and minority people targeted far more than the upper classes? There again, it's a matter of money. Little or no money means a quick and easy conviction versus money for bonds, good lawyers and trials.
I am not trying to say that there shouldn't be laws against drugs. I am saying that sooner or later this country as a whole needs to realize that drug use can never be stopped completely no matter what all the politicians and law makers say. Drug addiction should be considered a health problem the same as alcoholism. They need to re-evaluate the drug laws and make adjustments in sentencing to make more treatment available to drug users instead of just locking them away, and in many cases, making them even more criminal by the time they are released. All you voters out there need to look at the total situation, too, and truly try to understand the whole picture.
P.S. The statistics I have used come from the Bureau of Justice.
Ken Schnitz
Warsaw
Abortion
Editor, Times-Union:I am writing in response to the current advertisement that is running on the WRSW 107.3 radio station. The radio advertisement is discussing the options of choosing life or abortion for an unwanted pregnancy. The ad goes into graphic, extensive detail of the physical aspects of an abortion, all the way from the dilation of the cervix, down to inserting scissors into the base of the fetus' skull. My personal opinion on abortion remains to be a non-issue in this situation.
This is completely offensive to me knowing that my school-age children are listening to this on their school buses and in the school offices. A public radio station needs to be conscientious of the listening audience in knowing that school-age children might be listening. Oddly enough, our child's school bus cannot listen to a local channel out of South Bend because of offensive lyrics contained in music. However, our children can listen to our local WRSW to be exposed to these explicit details of an abortion. I ask you, is this ad appropriate for this commercial to air?
After speaking with the radio station, I found out that this advertisement was paid for by a local church organization. I realize that the organization is going for a "shock" reaction from those who are unaware of all details surrounding abortion procedures. I think there are better ways of reaching unaware minds than destroying the innocence of our young children's minds. And we wonder where our children's innocence is going? Maybe we should ask ourselves.
Greta Henry
Warsaw
Doctor's Advice
Editor, Times-Union:Dr. Schuler's letter in Tuesday's paper (Sept. 17) is scary, especially for the "elderly," and I qualify for that unglamorous term. I will write to our senator, as Dr. Schuler suggests. Meanwhile, I am extremely thankful for my doctor (Dr. Turton) who carefully and consistently monitors my physical needs and cooperates with my neurosurgeon in Indy, Dr. Hall. I don't know how they escape the pressure Dr. Schuler describes but I have not had to be subjected to the horrors he relates, and I am appalled to think that some seniors in our area may have been. I hope that all of us - seniors, and seniors-in-the-making - will respond to Dr. Schuler's plea to write our senator and representative.
Grace Abbott
Warsaw
via e-mail
Dalton
Editor, Times-Union:In regards to the story written about Dalton. I'm just wondering if Charlie Smith has children to feed or bills to pay or if he has ever been employed by a polluting company or does he drive his car to and from work or was he thinking of the trees he was using when he cleaned the small glass table with paper towels instead of a cloth he could use again or does he recycle everything he can. I bet Charlie Smith was one of the men that got the racetrack shut down, too. The list can go on and on. Everyone has faults but this company employs a lot of people that are hard working that provide for their families that are depending on them. So why does Charlie Smith want to whine about something so petty when the economy is not that great right now. Why wasn't he trying to be a great family man instead of ruining a well-known company that has been in Warsaw providing for the town's people for almost 80 years. I think he should be thinking about the men that are overseas trying to keep our freedom, instead of worrying about the petty things. What is the purpose of having the men overseas if a man in our own town can take away the jobs we love? So what he has vibrations at his house, some people live by railroads their houses vibrate too, so what would we do with the railroads if there was a complaint with them? As for the filth, get out a cloth and clean it up, so what it takes longer and you have to wash the cloth then. Just leave the employers alone that still have business. I personally like the dirt, I know I will be able to sleep in comfort, eat and enjoy the extras in life with that paycheck. And if that dirt isn't at my house then I know these things wouldn't be possible, and I don't even live in Warsaw. Hope nothing hit home.
Bridget Baldwin
Etna Green
via e-mail
Sports Funding
Editor, Times-Union:I see by the news that the Indianapolis Colts professional football team is seeking tax dollars to help them with financial problems. We need to really feel sorry for them. They are paying their players millions of dollars, when they surely would play for a lot less. A player making $5 million per year certainly could get by if he were only getting $500,000, and I am certain that if that were the pay scale there would be an ample supply of players. It no doubt would be very difficult for them to get only seven bathrooms instead of 13 in their mansions, and only three Rolls Royces instead of six.
It is not right to use tax dollars to subsidize professional athletics. This is a private enterprise. The businesses who benefit from them, and the patrons, should provide the funding. We need to tell our representatives and governor in no uncertain terms that we will not stand for them to use our tax dollars in this manner.
Fred R. Yohey
Warsaw
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