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Treat heroin like an illegal drug: Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

 

Editorial Cartoon

Treat heroin like an illegal drug

In response to the opinion expressed by the editorial board in the Sunday, Aug. 13, News Journal, I have an alternate solution. Treat heroin like an addictive illegal drug, as it is currently classified.  

Those who are arrested and are under the influence should be placed in prison hospitals until such time as they recover. Multiple convictions for users gets jail time with drug addiction treatment.  

And most importantly, a sharp increase in the penalties, including mandatory jail time, for pushers — those possessing quantities of heroin that can only be interpreted as being for distribution.  

Close the supply chain to save the addicts.  

John W. Herman

Middletown

Congress could act on climate change

I commend the News Journal’s editorial board for its Aug. 9 editorial, “U.S. can’t ignore climate change science,” and I echo the call for Congress to take action to address the existential threat of climate change.

I realize that many citizens are skeptical of a deeply divided Congress’s ability to take action on anything important right now, but on the subject of climate change, there is at least some reason for hope.

In February 2016, two members of the House of Representatives from Florida, one a Republican and one a Democrat, formed the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. Since then, another 50 members of the House have joined their colleagues on the caucus.

They are admitted two at a time, one from each party, so that the caucus maintains its bipartisan balance.

Members of the Climate Solutions Caucus have been active in seeking viable legislative solutions to the problem of climate change, including putting a price on carbon. Its members have also been crucial in defeating an amendment that would have blocked the U.S. military from considering climate change in its strategic planning.

Congress is starting to respond on climate. If enough citizens insist, loud and clear, that a livable world is a high priority, we can provide the political will they need to follow through with concrete actions.

Beth Chajes

Newark

No more shopping centers in Sussex

In a time when retail stores are closing and leaving malls and shopping centers due to the increase in online shopping, do we really need to build the Overbrook Town Center on Del. 1 between Milton and Lewes?

There are plans for a re-vote later this year. The original vote was 4 opposed and 1 for.

Sussex County is beautiful. We need to protect this beauty and our environment.

Sussex County is becoming overcrowded — lots of traffic, trash on many roads, and a lot of our land is for sale. Our local residents are moving out.

Please folks, don't vote for another shopping center, we have enough. There are other, more important things needed in Sussex County, like a traffic light on Del. 1 at Minos Conaway Road before someone gets killed trying to cross Del. 1, 

Patty D'Angelo

Lewes 

Shame on Russia for adoption ban

Thank you for publishing the article by Mary Vought “The other Russia Story: Adoption.”

I traveled two times to Russia in 2008 to support my daughter, who was adopting a little girl. I saw first hand the many children in an orphanage system.  

Luckily, my granddaughter was in a facility where they provided basic care to about a dozen children, ages 9 months to 18 months.  

For Putin to use these innocent children as pawns in a political war shows what type of person he is.  Although I mourn for the 650,000 children (as quoted in the article) that remain in orphanages, I think the U.S. is right to put pressure on Putin and the Russian oligarchy. 

K. Jean Williams 

Newark

Act against injustice

What we are seeing being played out in America today — the attacks on immigrants, and those who stand against it; the attacks on blacks, and those who stand against it; the attacks on Jews and Muslims, and those who stand against it; the attacks on the LGBTQ community, and those who stand against it — is the tension between injustice and justice.

Those on the side of justice must continue to struggle for human dignity. We must expose the nastiness of hatred and bigotry, and awaken the sense of moral shame.

In this struggle for human dignity, we must act with dignity. We should not indulge in hate campaigns or succumb to bitterness.

Those on the side of justice cannot sit on the sidelines. The love of God operating in the human heart calls us to act.

We organize, we roll up our sleeves and get to work, fully confident that the universe is on the side of justice.

Our broken community can be restored.

Terry Dykstra

Newark