Marijuana Policy Project

Given the scourge of drugs in this nation and the human and financial toll it takes on society, I am amazed by the letters from readers feeling sorry for John Huckins, most recently a "My Turn" piece written by an attorney ("Prosecutor ignoring wrongdoing that led to student's arrest," M. Curtis Whittaker, Monitor, June 3).

To suggest that Bishop Brady Jean Barker herself should be prosecuted for anything is ludicrous.

According to Whittaker, after Principal Barker hit the paging button on the confiscated cell phone, Mr. Huckins responded with, "Yo, need a bag?" He didn't respond and say "How's it going?" or "Let's hang at Mickey D's after school" or even, "Whassup, dude?"

Mrs. Barker didn't send a message that said, "Can you sell me some marijuana?" She didn't say, "Do you have any drugs to sell?" She apparently didn't do any of that until she found out who and what she had on the other end of the page: an apparent drug dealer whose automatic response to a page was, "Yo, need a bag?"

Would anyone be rising to Huckins's defense if the seller had been a 27-year-old Hispanic man from Lowell? Somehow I think not.

Let's get real on the "war on drugs." Pin a medal on Jean Barker and the Concord Police Department, and put Mr. Huckins in jail.

John B. Andrews, Concord