Pubdate: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 Source: Philadelphia Daily News (PA) Copyright: 2014 Philadelphia Newspapers Inc. Contact: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/about/feedback/ Website: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/339 Author: Elizabeth Oberley READERS AGREE ON 'SELFISH' HOFFMAN It's an unpopular opinion that I share with you. As a junior in high school, my exposure to druggies is limited, but growing every day as I learn of the things my peers do behind locked doors. At our prom last year, three of the top 10 seniors were kicked out the week before graduation for coming to the dance high on cocaine. Many of my other fellow students rationalize their abundant pot smoking by the fact that "it's all natural" and "nonaddictive" and "not a big deal." Being a girl that was raised in a Navy family with three brothers, one thing was hammered into our heads early on: drugs and alcohol are bad. When we got older, sex was added onto the list. The idea that someone can abuse something as serious as heroin is sickening, and I feel no pity for users who allow themselves to sink into an abyss that they claim they can not come out of. I agree 100 percent with your statement that "the human spirit is strong, not neutered, and we have within us the ability to stare morality and destiny down." We humans are stronger than the highs we create for ourselves, and anyone who refuses to believe that has no confidence in the things we are able to achieve. Elizabeth Oberley Virginia Beach, Va. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom