Letters to the Editor

COVER STORY, OCT. 16:
"VAPOR TRAIL"

HOT TOPIC

As a father of a 13-year-old boy I'm aware the social scene of teens and e-cigs are a hot topic. Recently a group of kids at his school, ATC, were called on the carpet by the principal for using e-cigs on the school bus and were punished by being banned from the bus for two weeks. A 16-year -old we know uses an e-cig and is very ready to tell everyone that it is perfectly safe and nothing like smoking.

It's nicotine, a very addictive drug, and we don't know much about e-cigs except that tobacco companies are making money off of them. Thanks for moving this important conversation along in a good direction.

WILL MCDONALD
SANTA FE

OVER THE TOP

Being ahead of the curve (as in the case of electronic cigarettes) isn't always an easy path to pave. The truth of the matter is that battery-operated e-cigarettes are one of the greatest wellness inventions of our time. As a "perfected product" they are completely safe.When e-cigarettes first arrived on the scene I turned a friend onto them and he remarked that the menthol-flavored ones he ordered "exceeded' his expectations on taste and simulated the satisfaction of real tobacco smoking; he also relayed that he hasn't "lit up" once since having this amazing new product. Also, a woman I know has "metered" the nicotine delivery system of her unit all the way down to zero, and says that she plans to continue the enjoyment of "vaping" her Juicy Fruit flavored e-cig for the rest of her life. Unequivocally, this is harm reduction over the top, and excessive and unreasonable regulation would be a travesty.

RICHARD DEAN JACOB
SFREPORTER.COM

THE DIRT, OCT. 16:
"STOP KVETCHING AND DO" 

WHAT THE FRACK!

Laura, great article. I especially liked the part about consumer consumption and mining. Yay!  One thing I was interested to find out was how much fracking water actually comes from brackish aquifers—it is often and increasingly drawn from water sources that do not impact the potable water supply. Especially here in west Texas, but I imagine in NM too.  Who knew!

JOY MIODUCHOWSKI
SFREPORTER.COM

COVER, OCT. 9:
"RED TAPE: ABORTION ACCESS UNDER FIRE"

THAT'S LIFE

Aside from the fact that this woman, Paula [Glennon], is suffering from the malady of gross misinformation and lack of education, she paints the entire, extremely diverse and extremely large (as in millions and millions, perhaps billions) population of women around the world who've terminated their pregnancies in the same broad brush. Who is "the post-abortive woman" she speaks of? Some monolithic mass of depressed females? Hardly.

I've worked with thousands of women in a healthcare setting and I can assure her that the vast majority of women I know who've had abortions are at peace with their decisions. Even those who express regret do so with the knowledge that they made the right decision at the time. I've had dozens and dozens of patients who "don't believe in abortion" choose to have them because of badly timed unwanted pregnancies. That's life, sweet, misinformed Paula; some decisions are easy, some are not. Some are heart wrenching, but utterly right.  Some choices live with you throughout life, becoming the fabric of your maturing self.

And while Paula is on the sanctimonious anti-choice side and has the luxury of publishing her name, those of us who've had abortions (or not), and support choice, and modern thinking, and safe medical procedures with REAL facts, cannot sign our names because the hypocrites who call themselves "pro-life" choose to do things like shoot us down in church, blow up our houses, harass our children at school, blow up the health care clinics where we may, or may not, provide abortions, and generally terrorize the population of a modern nation. The U.S. is the ONLY developed nation, I might add, that allows a group of religious fanatics to continually harass the whole population over a medical decision that is a woman's own choice to make. So, Paula, I don't think I'm going to change your mind, because I don't think you have that capacity, but put me down as a non-regretful, not-depressed, post-abortive woman. If you feel terrible regret, learn from it and make different choices. I support your right to choose. I am signing this for millions, because of your terrorism.

ANONYMOUS
SANTA FE

CORRECTION

President George W Bush did not issue a pardon to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, as SFR reported [cover story, Oct. 2: "Our Spy"]. Bush only commuted Libby's prison sentence. SFR regrets the error. Mail letters to Letters, SFR, PO Box 2306, Santa Fe, NM 87504, bring to 132 E Marcy St., fax to 988-5348 or email to editor@sfreporter.com SFR welcomes original, signed letters to the editor. Letters (200 words or less) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter.

They may be edited for clarity and space. Include address and phone number for verification purposes; these will not be published.

Santa Fe Reporter