Pubdate: Thu, 17 Jun 2004
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2004 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact: http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/letters/sendletter.html
Website: http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: John Schuller

LAUD, DON'T PUNISH, CHILD WELFARE CHIEF

One of the latest casualties in our nation's mindless "war on drugs"
is Clarke County child welfare director Gwen O'Looney ("Fired
official: Drugs ditched to help teen," Page One, June 15).

Fired for instructing workers to flush marijuana down the toilet to
spare a teenager from criminal charges, O'Looney deserves praise; she
certainly won my admiration.

I'm confident the child in question has enough on her plate without
being labeled a criminal. What could be gained by feeding her into our
morally bankrupt judicial system for possession of a substance that's
proved to be less harmful than tobacco and alcohol and less addictive
than caffeine? Smoking pot isn't good for kids, but neither are
juvenile detention and the lasting stigmatism of incarceration.

JOHN SCHULLER, Morrow
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