European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 1, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                The stars and stripes Page 11arm tenders near Ann Landers a few weeks ago you printed several letters from readers who expressed opinions both  and s about the legalization of dries there were convincing thoughtful and Well written arguments on both sides. You concluded by saying a a the lady with All the answers does no to have the answer to this one.�?�. I Hope by the time this letter reaches you that you will have come Down on the Side of sanity and reason. Perhaps you should examine some of the nutty comments your correspondents put Forward. My favorite was this one a there Are no drugs in the Peoples Republic of China. Anyone caught Selling drugs in that country gets a Bullet in the  that astute observer of current events failed to mention that anyone in that country who is caught demonstrating for democracy also gels a Bullet in the head. So much for Sterling examples. 1 no name just Harvard Law student dear Harvard Law my head is swimming from the compelling arguments on both sides of this Issue. The vast majority of my correspondents Are not kooks or airheads. They Are Well educated thoughtful citizens who feel deeply about this Issue. Here Are some other Points of View dear Ann Landers. Should we legalize drugs you bet your life we should. In the past month there was a drive by shooting in front of the House next door and a Midnight raid on the House Down the Street. If drugs were Legal these incidents would not have occurred. Despite the shooting and the raid both crack houses Are still in business. Why because the Money is Worth the risk. If we legalize drugs we free up millions of dollars that Are now being wasted on ineffective Law enforcement programs. We would Stop filling our jails with casual drug users and Stop clogging our judicial system with these time consuming cases. Legalization would take billions of dollars in profits out of the hands of the drug dealers and put them in the hands of the state and Federal governments. That Money could be spent on education and rehabilitation which in the final analysis is the Only answer to this Universal Scourge. A California from Seattle in spite of the sensible arguments for legalizing drugs there is one very Strong argument against it. If drugs were declared Legal they would gain the social legitimacy that two major killers now enjoy. I am talking about alcohol and cigarettes. Heaven help us if crack cocaine should Ever be considered an acceptable part of the social scene. From Detroit when i can to make up my mind about an Issue i try to read everything 1 can on the subject and see who is in favor of it and who is against it. I decided to support the legalization of drugs after Reading an article in the publication science by my former Princeton professor Ethan Nadelmann. More recently i have read that economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman favors decriminalization As does mayor Kurt Schmoke of Baltimore Brilliant columnist William f. Buckley and former Secretary of state George Shultz who served with distinction in the Reagan Cabinet. As i said dear readers this is a complicated Issue fraught with compelling arguments on both sides and i have been agonizing Over it for months. After a great Deal of soul searching i have finally made a decision. Tomorrow i shall print two letters that helped me make up my mind. Letters an explains policy on weather bulletins recently extremely High winds hit Europe causing death and much damage. The previous weekend our son had camped locally with a boy scout troop. I Rode through their camping area yesterday. There were Many Large Trees Down around the Camp site they use. There were two Large Trees and lots of branches in the site itself. I had been watching an to before and during the storm. At no time did i see a severe weather a a watch or a a warning As you would in the United slates on to. The weather just did no to appear unannounced in Germany. The storm moved into Germany from West to East. Someone had to know the severe weather was moving into Germany. One May miss the scheduled weather forecast on radio to. If an to can put a a runners on the Bottom of the screen telling of local outages they can put weather warnings on the Bottom of the screen. This could apply not Only to severe winds but also to ice storms which occasionally move into or across Germany. I done to know if there were warnings about the storm on local an radio stations. Since there were none on to 1 suspect not. In the future perhaps some of the a a Power that an radio likes to brag about can be used to Issue unusual weather warnings. I would suggest these message by aired not just a on the hours or a a noon and a a Midnight either. Regrettably this May require someone to come into the local station during the evening and on the weekend. However Many other people in the military a a occasionally work an evening or saturday sunday. I Hope my suggestion concerning weather warnings on an to and radio is taken. Next Lime the boy scout troop May be camping when the warning is Given. Therefore someone could go to the campsite and the scouts could break Camp before inc storm hits. Our scouts Camp in All kinds of weather a up to a Point. Evacuating Camp could prevent property damage injury and maybe even death an consider Hindsight in this situation. If you had used a a super to and your radio a Power a could any injury or property damaged have been prevented would someone have changed their driving plans a name withheld Wurzburg West Germany editors note a Tom Baxter chief broadcast operations american forces network Europe replies your letter contains several misconceptions and errors in fact. An radio and television did broadcast severe weather announcements each hour during several periods when High winds and storms crossed Central Europe. Several callers phoned to say they stayed indoors As a result of the announcements. However for an to broadcast such announcements we must receive the information in order to prepare the Alert notices. An does not have any weather detection capability of its own. The network broadcast operations Center in Frankfurt and the 10 affiliate stations have contingency procedures established with area military communities and bases in order to broadcast severe weather alerts. The network Headquarters has personnel on duty 24 hours. The affiliate stations have Alert procedures established to have broadcasters return to the station on Short notice to broadcast emergency announcements. Not Only do an personnel work weekends serving our audience they also cover All Holiday periods and never sign olt for a training holidays As do other units. We operate 24 hours a Day 365 Days a year. In order to provide timely broadcasts of emergency announcements during a non duty hours an broadcasters regularly return to the station in order to broadcast the information. These Are the same broadcasters who spend their a off duty time covering Community news and sports events that regularly occur on week nights and weekends. As a result of their dedication and desire to provide a professional and responsive service you have Access to 24-hour radio and television broadcasts. With Only a fraction of the staff of n stateside television station that serves a single metropolitan area the an broadcasters technicians and support personnel provide both a radio and television network service to an audience spread Over an area equal to nine states in the United states. At the present time Only three of the 10 an affiliate stations have the technical capability to broadcast local television emergency announcements. As a result of stateside technological advancements and Long Range budget planning action is currently in Progress to install a local television Brcak away capability at additional affiliate stations. This equipment will make it possible for most an stations to broadcast emergency announcements on both radio and television. Having this capability will be especially valuable during evening prime time viewing hours and on weekends when More people Are watching television than listening to radio. Emergency announcements for communities and bases that Are not located near an an affiliate station will continue to be broadcast Over the local radio station and the television network service from Frankfurt. The next time your scout group plans an outdoor camping activity during severe weather season the leaders might consider establishing procedures to periodically Check on current weather information a even if it Means a drive to the nearest Telephone a and receive emergency Alert notices. They May also want to take along a High Quality portable radio that has the capability to pick up an am or pm radio broadcasts so your scouts can a be prepared to take action in Case of severe weather or other news developments that May affect them. If you re still not satisfied with the severe weather Alert notices provided to your local Community you should Contact your Community or base  pals 1 am 27 and my interests Are keeping fit listening to music dancing theater Cinema and gardening. I also like to walk my dog and travel around in my Volkswagen. A Sharon Forrester 24 Mill Lane Morton Gainsborough Lincolnshire England dn21 3bw i am a 20-year-old roman Catholic. My hobbies Are writing games going to Church and eating. A Clarita Duran co Consor Duran l. Rovera St. Baltayan Road Dumaguet City Philippines my hobbies Are dancing Reading writing motorcycling driving collecting postcards and travel. I am 23 years old and a dance teacher. My two pet hates Are spiders and people who Don t reply to letters. A Tracy Samantha Branquinho 4 Blenheim r6. Wallasey Wirra l44 8br England i am 17 years old my hobbies Are dancing swimming singing cycling Reading and collecting stickers. A Maria Linda be Adalia Manilad Dumaguet City 6200 Philippines i would like to have pen pals irom nil Over the world. I am 19 years old. I like pop Rock music foreign languages and travel. A Tracy o Hare 35 Raffles re. Birkenhead Merseyside England l42 och i i am 17 years old and would like to Brno to people up to 34 years old. I enjoy music writing and dancing. A Karlene Johnson 20a Royal ave Lunstead . Is. Catherine Jamaica Wesl indies european edition col. Gene e. Townsend Usan commander editor in chief it. Col. Suzanne l. Phillips Usan Deputy commander editor in chief Marie komin1cki Mert Proctor Deane b. 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