Altoona chief of police John L. Gray makes some sense ("Juvenile drug cases increasing" July 30). I, too, believe that education is our best weapon in the war against drug abuse. Judging by Chief Gray's report on the recent increase in juvenile drug cases, strict enforcement of our drug laws hasn't worked. Education can work, but only if it's truthful and based on common sense. It doesn't make sense to pursue strict enforcement with a substance that does relatively little harm, like marijuana, while a substance like alcohol, which Chief Gray correctly identifies as a major cause of death on our highways, is sold in grocery stores. [continues 112 words]
To the editor: Regarding the reply of Altoona Police Chief John L. Gray to Carl Olsen (Altoona Herald Dec. 11), Chief Gray demonstrates what I have seen untold times in my position as Executive Director of a national news gathering service on drug policy issues. Gray, like countless community leaders, politicians and others in positions of power, are either being deliberately disingenuous or are mind bogglingly uninformed on the subjects of drugs, drug use and drug policy. I was stunned that a police chief would publish a letter referring to the defeat of a New York medical marijuana initiative. Not only were most of his statements based on typical but wildly inaccurate "facts," but he couldn't even get the right state or even side of the country correct (It was actually in the state of Washington). In addition, he misnamed and mispelled NORML (The National Association for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) as NORMAL and had inaccuracies in virtually every sentence of his letter. [continues 67 words]
Head Shops Don't Help Patients To thc editor: In the late afternoon of Nov.26, I received an inquiry from Mr. Carl E. Olsen regarding the defeat of a drug legalization initiative in New York. I told Mr. Olsen that two national news sources had reported the defeat on Nov. 4. In his letter to the HeraldIndex on Dec. 4, Mr. Olsen had decided that this initiative was in the state of Washington. He may indeed have more accurate information, due to his apparent involvement with drug legalization advocates. [continues 245 words]
