Marion Barry’s Trial and Black Leadership
The Times is wrong to push for the maximum penalty for Barry. Instead of spending so much of our money to hassle casual drug users, the police, the Justice Department, and, more recently, the military ought to concentrate on violent criminals--like the cops who beat up that pregnant lady when the janitors were striking in Century City.
The majority of casual drug users, except for people who drink alcohol, are marijuana smokers. As one of them I resent your implication that I am a “scourge.”
Big corporations complain about government regulations. But when we don’t keep an eye on them they rip us off--like the savings and loans did--or poison our air and water. If I smoke marijuana in the privacy of my own home, and I don’t drive or supply it to minors, how does that pose a problem for you? Get off my case!
JOHN D. BALTIC
Hollywood
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