I was struck by the photo of state Rep. Rick Jasperse high-fiving another legislator subsequent to the passage of his gun bill on the last day of the session. The bill allows guns in churches. On his website, Jasperse describes himself as a Christian, like many in the General Assembly.

I'm wondering if such elation was showed when bills were defeated allowing the use of medical marijuana for Georgia's sick children and requiring insurance companies to cover children with autism. Or when a bill was passed requiring drug testing for SNAP applicants, the poorest among us.

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On the front page of the Aug. 11 News Gazette, there appears an article regarding a marijuana grow op bust ("headline here").

What concerns me is the growing use of the 'child card' being used by law enforcement and journalism generally.

Not to suggest that I agree with the illegal, large-scale dope growers becoming so prevalent on the Island and the mainland, but the blurring of the crime committed to play on public sympathies is abhorrent.

The use of childrens' welfare to effect changes in laws and freedoms has long been in use in the U.S.

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I remember when Nancy Reagan would sit on Mr. T's lap and tell the kiddies "just say no." I still laugh. I remember as a teen in the 80s how, according to the experts, all of us were hooked on drugs. But beer was the only drug I tried until I was 18. Of course beer is legal, so that is okay, I suppose.

I saw the cover of your newspaper last Monday and rolled my eyes in disgust. Just a little too sensational don't you think?

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