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From: susan@madvax.UUCP (Susan Finkelman)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc,net.med
Subject: Re: Drug Abuse - True Problem or Media Hype?
Message-ID: <445@madvax.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 16-Sep-86 14:20:48 EDT
Article-I.D.: madvax.445
Posted: Tue Sep 16 14:20:48 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 19-Sep-86 00:43:29 EDT
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Organization: Varian, Walnut Creek, CA
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Xref: linus talk.politics.misc:183 net.med:4607

> Knowing how harmful legalizing drugs such as alcohol and tobacco has been, how
> can you advocate legalizing still more harmful drugs into our society?
> Haven't we learned anything from this?  I've been addicted to tobacco for
> many years now.  If other controlled drugs had been legal 20 years ago, I 
> could be addicted to those also.  As I said, I'm addicted to tobacco, but I'm
> not ignorant nor insensitive enough to advocate the use of this horrible killer.
> I became addicted when I was too young to realize the consequences, just as 
> our young people today are doing drugs and not giving the consequences enough
> thought.  Tobacco in general takes much longer to become addicting than a lot
> of todays' popularly abused drugs.  By the time young kids realize the dangers
> they could be addicted and then it is too late.
> 
> ray

I too was "addicted" to tobacco when I was too young to know any better.  I
decided to stop smoking and, therefore, I no longer smoke.  Quitting wasn't
fun.  However I didn't need military intervention, nor government mandate
nor police harrassment to make me quit.  Do you really expect to get a
lot of respect from kids who see that their elders drugs of choice are
legal?  Need I bring up the overwhelming success of Prohibition?

  Susan Finkelman
	{zehntel,amd,fortune,resonex,rtech}!varian!susan