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Not free for me

In the April 21 issue of the Tribune there was an article headlined "White House won't buy needles."

Why should they? I'm a diabetic and I have to buy my needles and supplies to stay alive. the White House won't pay for them. Medicare and Social Security won't pay either.

Some cities pass out free needles. Guess I'll try to find them and stand in line.

- Marge Smith, Medford

Popularity contest

Regarding the April 16 story about Judge Crain's decision to suppress evidence against the Ashland teacher, Debbie Blair: It is just another fine example of the double standards in legal treatment between the working class and the bureaucratic aristocracy.

Why was the search warrant issued if it was so flimsy? For some reason, I have a hard time believing that the similar evidence would have been suppressed if the suspect was "Joe Sixpack" rather than an obviously popular public employee. Has law been redefined as a popularity contest?

And what a great education our tax dollars are buying! Here we have this zero-tolerance drug policy for students, but when a teacher becomes the suspect, well, I guess things get a bit muddled. Perhaps if we required drug testing of teachers (as has been proposed and as some schools require for student-athletes) we might be able to prevent future similar embarrassments.

Of course, it fits well with the times. Like Clinton in his case with Paula Jones, Blair is apparently satisfied to have her case thrown out rather than try to prove her innocence. And like the judge in the Paula Jones case, Judge Crain is apparently unconcerned with the impact that refusing to hear evidence in court may have on the credibility of our legal system.

As for Blair, she may be a wonderful presenter of curriculum, but I sure wouldn't want her as a role model for my child.

DARE to teach integrity! Just say no to country club politics!

- Jason Wilkinson, Medford

The drug industry

Southern Oregon employs many within its drug industry. First come the "drug coyotes," the growers, manufacturers and distributors. They are enabled by "drug-animal activists," the "on the take" public officials. The list compounds.

Next come the "legally employed": law enforcement, attorneys, courts and businesses who funnel drug money. All require facilities, equipment, supplies and services that employ additional professions, etc. What would happen to the economy if the drug industry vanished? Unemployment and short money. Is it reasonable to suspect, "vested interests" might wish to keep the drug industry going - all at taxpayers expense? Isn't that a hungry dog eating his own tail?

The parallel: Let's pretend you are employed by sheep herders. They pay you to shoot coyotes. One day you discover all the coyotes live in a dead-end canyon. You could dynamite the canyon and kill all of the coyotes.

Dynamiting the canyon would accomplish two things: sheep would not longer be killed, and you would be out of work!

Your question is, whom do you protect - the sheep and the sheep herders, or the coyotes and your job?

The answer? You "manage" your coyote business. You kill only enough to support yourself. You now have lifetime employment. And the stupid sheep herders think you are protecting their sheep!

Our dope coyotes roam free. If captured, they are released unharmed. Just review recent drug arrests and their court results. Do we have a "well managed" drug industry or what?

- David W. Fadden, Ashland

For the children

You say you're a heroin addict and you're going to continue using it, no matter who it hurts?

That's all right, we understand, and we'll give you free needles to make it safer, cheaper and easier for you to break the law.

You say you're HIV positive and, although you're not going to tell anyone because you have a right to privacy, you're going to continue having unsafe sex because that's the only way you can express your love?

That's all right, we understand, and we'll cover the medical and burial expenses for you and your partners.

You say you're a smoker and have been buying cigarettes, a legal product, for the last 20 or 30 years, hurting no one but yourself?