Letters: No irony in hunger; meth making ingredient

Compassion juxtaposed to ‘irony’

JAMES MCCALL EVANS III

Muncie

I disagree wholeheartedly with Wayne Garrett’s comments from June 2. In his comments, he compared an increase in children’s nutrition programs run by the U.S. Department of Agriculture with environmental restrictions by the National Park Service. In the comments, he equated “feeding animals” in our national parks to the dependency of Americans on Food Stamp Programs and children receiving free/reduced school lunches. He claimed that it was “ironic,” however there is nothing “ironic” about poverty.

The U.S. Census Bureau's 2014 Report on Area Income and Poverty estimates 26 percent-32.3 percent of minors living in Delaware County live in abject poverty. That is one in four children.

There is also concrete scholarly evidence from the American Medical Association that proper nutritional supplementation is essential for cognitive and educational development in childhood. For those 1 in 4 children receiving nutritional supplementation, there is nothing “ironic” about these facts.

It is time that we as a community stop stigmatizing those who are most vulnerable and work with compassion to overcome the adversity of poverty. I urge you to go to your local food pantry, volunteer and to speak to those in need. But most of all, listen. These are our fellow human beings who live next door, not mere animals at a national park.

Give PSE law time to work

MARGARET NICCUM

Muncie

Indiana just passed legislation sponsored by state Rep. Dave Frizzell that blocks drug felons from purchasing cold and allergy medicine containing pseudoephedrine, like Zyrtec-D and Allegra-D. The ink is barely dry from the governor’s signature on the bill, yet some are already talking about the need for further restrictions on these safe and effective medicines, going so far as to make it available by prescription only, for everyone.

We need to give the new law time to work and policymakers should focus on other issues affecting our state. Just because a select few criminals use the ingredient found in these medicines to make meth, doesn’t mean we need to block law-abiding citizens from purchasing these needed cold and allergy medicines. We are on the path to establishing a good foundation to stop the real criminals, the known drug offenders, from purchasing PSE, not everyday cold and allergy sufferers. We need to focus on what was just passed and give it time to work.

Meth addiction is an epidemic that can’t and won’t be solved overnight. Especially when more than 90 percent of the meth in our country is being smuggled in from Mexico. We need thoughtful policy and a coordinated effort from the law enforcement, pharmacy and retail communities. Representative Frizzell’s bill does just that.