Pubdate: Sun, 11 Aug 2002 
Source: Amarillo Globe-News (TX) 
Copyright: 2002 Amarillo Globe-News 
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Website: http://amarillonet.com/ 
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/13 
Author: Debra Cochrain

CHILDREN SHOULD PUT US ALL ON THE SAME PAGE

I'm pleased that the editorial "Drug legalization not child's play" was published. It means our area is concerned about this issue.

We are on the same page when it comes to the bottom line: the children.

Consider for a moment that most adults who smoke marijuana already have made that choice.

Ask yourself: Who are you afraid of on a Friday night - the marijuana smoker or the drunken driver?

Our police are busy harassing the marijuana smoker, and the drunken driver is busy having wrecks. One might think that because most counties around here are dry, the police would pay attention to all the boozers driving miles and miles to get their fix.

Consider for a moment that only 2 percent of our nation suffers from addiction to illegal narcotics. And yes, there are some families that need to break some chains. But we have been trying to incarcerate this problem away for 40-some years. Why can't we try something else?

Why can't we at least discuss it without all this paranoia?

The work done by Panhandle Assessment Center is wonderful, but as I said, only 2 percent of our nation is addicted to illegal drugs. What are we so afraid of? Please begin to judge them not guilty, for they need help, not prison.

And, as a member of Drug Policy Reformers of Texas, I would ask we not be labeled "legalizers." We prefer regulation to separate children from the black market, to separate those who deserve prison from those who are ill, to allow the medicinal use of marijuana, to keep the stats such as those of PAC from growing.

Let's save the children from the illicit market. Let's try something new and out of the box before all of our children are in the box. Yours might be next!

Debra Cochrain Fritch