Letters to the Editor | March 7, 2023

It seems we have forgotten the lessons learned in efforts to control alcohol use during Prohibition. New Jersey lawmakers are advancing a pair of bills that would toughen sentencing for fentanyl possession and dealing. This “tough on crime”-type legislation will do nothing to decrease addiction, but rather is likely to entrench criminal activity. Substance abuse is labeled an “addiction” because that’s what it is, and no amount of threatening or moralizing will make it possible to change behavior. We need to take the profit out of drug dealing by making dealers unnecessary. Some steps in that direction are underway in New Jersey, which has begun to provide mobile methadone delivery to places where users congregate. It is hoped that this sensible, humane, and crime-reduction approach will find proponents elsewhere.

Norma Van Dyke, Philadelphia

Issuing free SEPTA passes to city workers and residents living in poverty is one of the best and most practical ideas the Kenney administration has had, one that has multiple pluses and no discernible downside. It benefits both SEPTA and the city. In addition to helping provide more safety, better access to jobs, and environmental benefits, it also has the potential to increase ridership in general. More passengers may make people feel safer, leading to even more ridership. More passengers mean increased jobs as more staff is needed. And in the end, providing more access to public transportation for vulnerable Philadelphians and workers who serve us is just the right thing to do.

Joan Chinitz, Philadelphia, jjchin@comcast.net

Let the drumbeat of letters advocating for gun safety continue. Potential gun owners need to avoid an agenda of violence. Our Founding Fathers couldn’t have imagined a society in which freedoms of the press and the vote, an education system with mandatory instruction in civics, and the pursuit of human rights and personal freedoms, if suitably protected, are in themselves capable of withstanding tyranny. Fewer handgun owners are content to simply own a gun; they’re firing them — too often at fellow motorists, innocent children, and domestic partners. We’re headed in the direction of settling every disagreement by pulling a gun. Legislatures can’t stop it. Gun manufacturers won’t stop it. And the NRA gladly cheers it on. We must stop the sale and transfer of handguns before the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are trampled in the pursuit of an agenda of violence.

Dana Green, Cherry Hill, 153hard@gmail.com

If we, and our next mayor, are serious, we need to have city workers live in the city. For the city to thrive, all of its workers must have skin in the game. To effect real change, all must have a real stake. Like the selective service draft in the military, when everybody had been possibly affected by the prospects of it, people paid attention and acted. As we see today, a minute minority is involved, and barely anyone pays attention to our military’s involvement. When the majority of people are personally affected by conditions, that is when change happens. Yes, some will argue the “quality” of these job candidates will drop, but really? Where will the thousands of cops, firefighters, teachers go to have these same jobs with pensions? Philadelphia doesn’t need a thousand versions of Mehmet Oz, we need workers who actually care about the place where they work.

Tim Lynch, Philadelphia

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