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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Hitler, Heard, and Drugs
To the editor: Your article on Stephen Lance Heard (“Stealing a Life,” Jan. 4, 2006) demonstrates the subversive nature of drug promotion in the United States and the collateral crimes surrounding drug abuse in America. Since the Hitler-Stalin Pact in 1939, the cloak of fascism has hidden the reality of communist subversion. The Heard case on the surface appears to expose the possible aspects of neo-Nazi intrigue; however, under the surface one finds the southern strategy of the communist conspiracy: drugs. Although a look-alike for Lawrence of Arabia, Stephen Heard is the opposite in deed and action. Thank you, Mr. Whiteley, for good coverage in this matter. Your professional efforts are appreciated.
John L. Harris
Fort Worth
Leaders Needed
To the editor: Regarding “Bling, Bang, Little Gangstas” (Feb. 15, 2006): These kids need help. They want to feel like they belong to something! We need to provide a safer environment that meets their social needs.
The truth about drugs will keep our children off them. Sound medical and unbiased scientific knowledge is the most effective moral persuasion. Present policy falsehoods and scare tactics have undermined our credibility. People are going to self-medicate, smoke, drink, and party no matter what the law says. The best we can hope from our policies is to reduce the harm.
Fewer deaths are attributed to illicit drug use than to the violence and crime triggered by drug prohibition, plus prohibition destroys families. The drug war has orphaned an estimated 9 million American children.
How many lives do we owe reparations for because in the ’70s the mission in American drug law enforcement changed from “Serve and Protect” to “Lie to Justify” (your salary)? This admission coming from former cops is shocking. According to Jack Cole of LEAP (Law Enforcement Against Prohibition) and a former undercover narcotics officer, “We said users were dealers. We lied about the amount. We lied about the street value.”
Tobacco, alcohol, and pharmaceuticals account for almost a full quarter of all those who die each year in the United States. Illicit drugs account for less than 1 percent of total deaths, and no deaths are attributed to marijuana. The drug war hysteria is created to take our eyes off the real killers we tolerate.
I am a once-proud American because my country once stood for freedom from oppression. America now has the dubious honor of having more people in prison than any country in the world. The Land of the Used to be Free is the most incarcerated nation in history.
Leaders responsible for the current quagmire will have to answer to a higher power for their crimes against humanity. It’s time to end the terror by changing our intrusive, big-bully policies, both foreign and domestic. The monetary costs are staggering and the human suffering unconscionable.
Colleen Minter
Stephenville
High on Haltom
To the editor: Jeff Prince did a good job on Haltom, or I should say “Haltem,” City (“Brightening a ’Burb,” Feb. 22, 2006), although I do differ somewhat on the conclusion that a tax cap on the elderly and disabled places the tax burden on businesses and the young. As mayor, I also spearheaded a successful increase in the homestead exemption for the elderly that is real tax relief and a 10 percent homestead exemption for those under 65. Regarding the freezing of taxes for senior citizens: The point needs to be made that, because of normal life expectancies, the “freeze” on a particular property usually will last only a few years. Appraised market value is established by the Tarrant Appraisal District and the real market place.
On “eminent” domain, elected officials will say they hate it, but they continue to use it. How about Haltom City using some land they already own over there near the Ponderosa trailer park for building new governmental facilities if they just have to have them?
Jack O. Lewis
Haltom City
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