Letters

Grassroots Movement

Drug war insanity: Thanks to writer Michael Serazio and the Houston Press for their courage ["Reefer Madness," September 30]. It takes balls to attack the perversion of the U.S. drug laws, and your attack against the marijuana "laws" is certainly a bold first step.

In the 90-year-old "prohibition of drugs," commerce worldwide in these prohibited drugs amounts to some $500 billion per year.

There is no justice, no logic, no truth involved, no scientifically justifiable reason for this drug war -- none, zero, zilch. Bankers, government contractors and pharmaceutical houses lead the charge for the everlasting, ever-escalating drug war. Millions of suppliers, guard union members and pot growers supplement the call for more of our young people to be arrested for making a nebulous choice as to their intoxicants.

After the end of prohibition, overdose deaths will dwindle to the few who have chosen this route to commit suicide. When we break the back of the black market trade, there will be insufficient profits to lure street corner vendors who thrive on selling to our children.

People have used drugs for thousands of years. To set out on a 90-year jihad to prohibit such use is not just folly, it is a crime.

Dean Becker
Houston

ApPauling: I'm not surprised that Ron Paul supports medical marijuana. Paul is far out of the mainstream and is usually one of the few minority votes on some U.S. House roll calls.

Maybe this explains his wacko behavior. In fact, when I saw your cover, I thought Clayton Jones was Paul. Maybe one was switched at birth.

Bill Eubank
Houston

Pointless and cruel:Thank you for Michael Serazio's excellent article. It is very informative and well written. I especially appreciated the interviews with Dr. Ron Paul and Alan Bock.

Several Libertarian Party candidates have spoken out for drug reform and are waging active campaigns for the U.S. Congress (www.lpcandidate.com or www.lp.org). In District 136 (Galleria-Memorial Villages), I am running for the Texas legislature. The focal point of my campaign is the benefit of drug relegalization. These benefits include lower taxes (throwing peaceful, nonviolent people in jail costs plenty).

Drug prohibition doesn't work. It diverts law enforcement resources away from apprehending murderers, rapists and thieves who richly deserve to be punished. But arresting sick and dying people for the "crime" of trying to alleviate their pain by smoking marijuana is inhumane.

Most Democrat and Republican incumbents aren't going to push for even the most obvious and humanitarian reform of medical marijuana. Those serious about freedom of choice in medicine, and ending drug prohibition, should vote Libertarian.

Thomas Clark
Hedwig Village

Condemning Klein

Harsh discipline:Our nephew was one of the kids expelled during the Klein school district incident ["KISD Off," by Margaret Downing, September 30]. He is a smart young man with severe ADD, for which he takes medication. Our nephew innocently accepted the pill from the other kid so as to avert any further badgering and deposited it in the nearest trash can. Our nephew had no problems; he was a member of the wrestling team, he was in ROTC and made good grades, but he got expelled. We didn't want him with the troubled group in juvenile "prison" school, so we have been forced to enroll him in a homeschool program since none of the charter schools will take an expelled student.

Principal Cain and teachers came to defend our nephew but to no avail, because the discipline had already been decided. Not only is this punishment too severe for our nephew, I can't begin to tell you how difficult it has been for our family.

KISD is like a military camp with no compassion whatsoever. We have talked about moving our kids out of the district, but they have their friends and all -- we don't want to interfere with their emotional distraction any more than we need to!

Thank you for the article. It needs to be brought to light what these school districts think they can do with/to our kids -- and they are so wrong in their decisions.

Connie Webber Chuisano
Tomball

A cry for help:As a child in the Klein school district, I had depression and ADD, and was abused at home. Instead of offering help, KISD treated me like a discipline problem, even though my behaviors were textbook clues to my situation. I was repeatedly punished in school for events and behaviors beyond my control.

When the abuse at home was reported to a school counselor at the time, she did not follow the law and report it to CPS and the police -- even though she told me that she had done so. When questioned later by CPS, she said she hadn't reported it because she thought she could work it out herself. Her behavior put my life at risk.

Kids in KISD don't fall through the cracks -- they're pushed. It appears that things have only gotten worse. I am an adult now, but I will never forget how horribly I was treated in those schools.

Priscilla Lane
Houston