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Debbie et. al.<BR>
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Debbie, its time for you to offer an apology!<BR>
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This subject of alcohol abuse among youth, etc., seems to make you uncomfortable for some reason because you made false implications regarding what I have written on this subject that are very unfair and untrue.<BR>
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How do all those youth and their victims killed by drunk driving get their alcohol? Often by someone supplying or selling (sometimes for profit) the alcohol to them, a crime with legal penalties, if they are under age.<BR>
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You completely dodge the central issue of my post regarding the extent of the damage done by alcohol abuse among youth compared to other drugs, and comparing the legal penalties for those who supply alcohol to minors with the penalties for supplying other illegal drugs. I could quote sources, but we both know that in Latah County, and across much if not all of the USA, the penalties for supplying alcohol to minors pale in comparison to the penalties for supplying numerous other illegal drugs.<BR>
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Does this suggest an irrational imbalance in the approach of law enforcement and the legal system on this issue given that alcohol abuse among youth is related to killing more youth than all other drugs combined? This is the main point of my post, which I believe I made clear.<BR>
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This point was in no way an argument to justify any kind of substance abuse. It is very unfair and insulting to the argument I was presenting to suggest this. <BR>
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Debbie wrote:<BR>
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"I don't see how the statistics that say 'alcohol kills 6.5 times <BR>
more youth than all other illicit drugs' provides much support <BR>
for legalizing marijuana for non-medical use (if that is what <BR>
your previous post was getting at)." <BR>
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"Yes, our culture is bipolar in its thoughts and actions about drugs and <BR>
alcohol and alcohol use in youth but using one symptom of <BR>
substance abuse to support another doesn't fly with me."<BR>
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This attempt to switch the focus onto issues that were not argued for or even mentioned in my post, such as legalizing cannabis for general use, or supporting any kind of substance abuse, does not do justice to the grave issue of alcohol abuse among youth which is, yes, I will repeat again, quite conclusively the main cause of drug related deaths among youth!<BR>
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You have blatantly and recklessly distorted my meaning in my post and made implications that were very unfair to my intentions.<BR>
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Think about all the youth and others killed or injured due to alcohol related causes in the Moscow/Pullman and Lewiston/Clarkston area, and now please honestly and directly answer these questions:<BR>
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Do the legal penalties for supplying alcohol to minors match the severity of the problems caused by alcohol abuse among youth? And, would you support more severe legal penalties and more aggressive law enforcement efforts directed towards those who supply alcohol to minors?<BR>
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I answer no to the first question and yes to the second.<BR>
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And you?<BR>
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Ted Moffett<BR>
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