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Viewpoints: Letters / Opinions

An Open Letter to the Ketchikan City Council

By Teri J. Wilson

 

January 01, 2015
Thursday PM


I am sick to death of Ketchikan trying to get rid of smokers? We are not the problem here, and I resent any more taxes on cigarettes.

Ketchikan has two major problems that are far more serious, and nothing is being done about them? Hom many problems are caused by alcohol? Drunk driving, domestic violence, and death in all its many forms. The second problem is illegal drugs. And people want to legalize pot? Pot smokers are just as prone to driving while high and getting lung cancer.

In an online statement made by the Ketchikan Police Department "As illegal drug use and alcohol abuse increase, so do other crimes. Domestic violence, assaults, burglaries, theft, and suicide are just some of the indicators of a serious, community-wide, substance abuse problem." This is a lot more serious than cigarette smoking, which doesn't cause any of those problems, but theft might increase if $1 a pack tax is instituted by the City Council!

And to those people who think you'll become ill because someone is smoking a cigarette in the open air, get a grip? You people do more damage to the ozone with your car!

It's time to make the alcoholics pay, taxes on alcohol have not been raised since 1983! this is a very serious problem in town. And the drug dealers! They need to have longer sentences and higher fines, which need to be collected! Tax alcohol! If that were done, maybe we could get a facility to treat people! And we could pay for more anti-drug education in the schools.

If the City Council wants money, that's the way to get it. But leave us beleaguered and already over-taxed smokers ALONE, ONCE AND FOR ALL!

Teri J. Wilson
Ketchikan, Alaska

Received December 18, 2014 - Published January 01, 2015

 

 

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