Personal Attack Hurts Anti-Pot Message - Rocky Editorial

Elizabeth Shaffer, Longmont

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Letter writer Robert Kladde ("Pot a thread in many 'calls for service,' " Feb. 26) resorts to the least credible form of persuasive argument, the personal attack, in criticizing officer Howard Wooldridge's opinion on marijuana's societal dangers. This is a common ploy when an argument lacks merit. It is apparent to any reasonable reader that Wooldridge means that in his 18 years of service he never received a service call generated by the use of marijuana alone, as opposed to alcohol alone.

If we buy Kladde's argument (and we shouldn't), then we need to ask how many fatal heroin overdoses (or cocaine or meth overdoses) occurred in a setting where alcohol is consumed. But that might lead to a reasonable discussion instead of a personal attack on a veteran policeman we have no reason to believe lacks credibility. It also might lead to a discussion on whether the owner of the local liquor store is pushing a dangerous substance, and whether or not taxation and regulation better protects our youth than prohibition does.

Rocky Mountain News