Pubdate: Thu, 03 Oct 2002 Source: Florida Today (FL) Copyright: 2002 Florida Today Contact: http://www.floridatoday.com/forms/services/letters.htm Website: http://www.flatoday.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/532 Author: Joe Dan Tucker ATHLETES GET AWAY WITH DRUG ABUSE I can't understand why multimillionaire football and baseball players can snort and shoot all the dope they want and get away with it, but still draw their salaries, be forgiven by judges and go back to playing. This is their career. The average person who gets pulled over with a tiny bit of weed in his car is thrown into jail, loses his job and is torn apart by the community for being a pot-head. Do sports players have diplomatic immunity? Randy Moss draws his salary after being charged with having narcotics in his car. I watched him miss three passes in his hands during a recent game. Dante Culpepper was sacked more during the same game than he was all last season. Do you think anyone on the team has any confidence in another player when they know he is a dope head? They wonder just how many of the others are the same. So the team goes down the tubes. I feel sorry for Culpepper and the front line who are trying to protect him. Evidently, they weren't doing such a good job during this game. Maybe they also are sniffing something. JOE DAN TUCKER, Titusville - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D