ERODING FREEDOM

I appreciated Debra J. Saunders' April 19 column "The war on users of
cold, allergy drugs" describing how efforts to control meth with
restrictions on sales of medications containing pseudoephedrine have
only resulted in increased inconvenience and expense for legitimate
consumers as the meth labs continue churning out their poison.

I encounter a similarly irritating restriction purchasing spray
paints. I could once leisurely browse through cans at the hardware
store, comparing price, drying times and temperature tolerances before
deciding which one to purchase. Now I must take the time to call a
clerk over to unlock the cabinet and force him or her to wait while I
decide which can to select.

And as I nervously hurry through the various cans, I have the nagging
thought that this inconvenience and consumption of time has had the
same success at controlling tagging in our communities as the
pseudoephedrine controls have had on meth labs. Both are simply more
restrictions on our freedom that primarily put limits on the
law-abiding.

Steve Bankhead, Watsonville