Multipronged attack is needed to mount a real war on drugs
Jill Jonnes briefly reviews three books in "To make narcotics legal defies history and science" (Oct. 11) about the problem of drug abuse and states her opposition to the legalization of drugs advocated by many who believe we have lost the "war on drugs."
As with all complex problems, no simple answers exist, and honesty compels many of us working in the field to say: What we are doing just isn't working.
There really isn't a war on drugs. A war would involve law enforcement, education and treatment. I haven't seen the public will to provide all three of these elements with the money or manpower needed to be effective.
No single modality will help everyone. We need a wide range of treatments and the necessary follow-up.
Educational programs for young people and adults have to be reviewed carefully; some have proven more harmful than helpful.
And the size of this nation and its coastline makes it impossible to prevent all drugs from coming in.
Drug courts can be very helpful, although they deal only with those who are arrested and can be brought into court -- that is only a fraction of those using and abusing drugs.
Baltimore cannot afford to provide 50,000 treatment slots.
A very wise man once said, "People take drugs for only two reasons, to feel better or not to feel so bad."
I'm afraid that unless we look at underlying conditions and deal with them and find better and healthier ways to help people feel better or not so bad, we'll have this scourge with us for many years to come.
Frederick J. Hanna
Baltimore
Clinton piece judged to be clear, sane -- or misleading
Thanks to Daniel Berger.
His Opinion Commentary piece "Making an example of the U.S. president" (Oct. 20) is the first clear, concise, sane and historically accurate piece of journalism I have read concerning the Clinton affair. It deserves national syndication.
Barbara Katz
Baltimore
I am outraged by Daniel Berger's misleading representation of the central issue in the Clinton crisis.
The issues are these: Did the president lie or distort the truth under oath, and did he attempt to influence others to do likewise?
Why he may have lied is irrelevant, especially since no issue of national security was involved.
Mr. Berger indicts various elements of our culture for offensive sleaze, including Newt Gingrich, "Baywatch," Howard Stern and Jerry Springer. Does Mr. Berger imagine that President Clinton's acts are helping to reverse the societal trend he deplores?
Bob Heaton
Cockeysville
Country needs to be saved from the Republican party
The column by Bob Herbert is 100 percent accurate ("A cry for voters to save the country from GOP policies," Oct. 15).
The Republican agenda has always been to help billionaires.
The agenda is against clean air and water and against minimum-wage increases, which help get people off of welfare.
Rocco Rotondo
Jr. Baltimore
Special education emerged where regular classes failed
Special education bleeds money from city public schools, according to The Sun's recent "Lost Learning" series (Sept. 20-22). Too many children receive special education.
A few basic points seem to have been overlooked, however. First, children are referred by regular educators; they are not recruited by special education. Second, they are referred because regular education fails them.
Ideas being floated to shrink special education might improve the bottom line, but not teaching or learning. The fact that regular education continues to fail its own students, who presumably are easier to teach, underscores the point.
Michael S. Rosenberg's commentary ("Special education: Improve staff . . ." Oct. 9) concludes that various policies and procedures have not been implemented. I agree. But, perhaps inadvertently, the otherwise excellent article conveys the impression that teachers are to blame for school failure; "startling" and "shocking" data about teachers are adduced.
Isn't it equally important to ask who hires the legions of unqualified personnel? Nowhere in the commentary can I locate the word "administrator," although these are the folks who do the implementing.
Marc P. Jacobs
Baltimore
Article highlighted shame of destroying our history
A note to commend you for the article "History goes up in flames" (Oct. 8). While I serve at the Cathedral of Our Mary the Queen in the city, my home is Cecil County, not far from the Ford Mansion which, senselessly, was razed recently.
Thank you for the decision to put the story on the front page. By doing so, the issue of preserving historic sites in Maryland is brought home to our citizens and legislature. It is a burning issue in both the literal and figurative sense of the word.
What seems so deplorable about the destruction of the Ford Mansion, built in the 18th century is that no one is taking responsibility for the deed -- not the North East Fire Department, not the Cecil County Health Department, not MIE Properties Inc. of Baltimore, which bought the property.
The good news is that in other parts of the county we're doing much better in protecting our history. I'm thinking especially of my hometown, Port Deposit, where the Historical Society has worked hard for many years to preserve the beautiful granite and brick that have gone into making the lovely old buildings and terraces belonging to this river port along the Susquehanna.
The Rev. John J. Abrahams
Baltimore
Education proposals need equity and accountability
Recently, Maryland has witnessed the proliferation of
education funding programs that are more finely attuned to the interests of local politicians than to the needs of children throughout the state.
The result is a myriad of confusing funding streams and the problem of inadequate funding still unresolved.
Children deserve a thorough basic education regardless of the wealth of their family or the jurisdiction in which they live. Maryland has a funding formula that allocates education aid so that children in less wealthy jurisdictions get more state aid. This formula is a foundation for the democratic principle that everyone has a chance to be at the starting line as the race of life begins. Recent education funding initiatives have eroded this principle.
While the Maryland Education Coalition welcomes proposals from Gov. Parris N. Glendening and Ellen R. Sauerbrey to reduce class size in public schools, it is concerned that the distribution of new funds be based on an equitable and rational funding formula with accountability built in.
Charlie Cooper
Baltimore
OA
The writer is president of the Maryland Education Coalition.
Conservative Christians not to blame for murder
After reading your editorial "Hate in Wyoming and the rule of law" (Oct. 17), I remembered why I always turned down those polite men and women selling trial subscriptions to your paper.
The treatment and murder of Matthew Shepard in Wyoming was atrocity. However, for your paper to join in the cry linking conservative Christian groups such as the Family Research Council to this crime is irresponsible.
The only group in this country that anyone armed with the journalistic tools of the trade can denigrate with impunity is the conservative Christian. It can be blamed for every social ill -- with no evidence needing to be gathered.
It used to be the mark of character was the willingness to stand by deep-rooted convictions based on foundations that did not shift on the sands of public opinions. Now in this age of political correctness, the media consider that a vice worthy of public ridicule.
By way of example, which is more loving? Warning someone the bridge is out up ahead and telling them to turn back, or not wanting to offend them, letting them continue on their way?
Wayne Liberati
Columbia
Pub Date: 10/23/98