Praise for hair piece
I just wanted to write and say how much I loved Sarah Klein’s story (“Tressed to Kill,” Metro Times, April 7) about Hair Wars. I thought it was really well-written and showed a side of Detroit I had no idea existed. Keep the creative and interesting pieces coming! —Eileen Orzoff, Chicago, Ill.
Hair can bring us together
If metro Detroiters found more ways to get together culturally, then I know we would have much fewer problems racially. The Hair Wars and the Real Big Hair Ball are just two of the many events that can bring us all together.
I once said, “Hair Wars is a black event.” Then I rethought this. No, it’s an entertainment event, and I should never have put the color thing in there. I wonder how many black metro Detroiters say “Real Big Hair Ball, that’s a white event.” Too bad for all of us! If I can change my mindset, whoever reads this can too. —Norman Wagner, Roseville, [email protected]
On medical marijuana
Calvin Trent of the Partnership for a Drug-Free Detroit appears to be deeply confused about medical marijuana (“Pot, Pain and Politics,” Metro Times, April 7). He says his reason for opposing the medical marijuana initiative is that “we’re against smoking,” but surely an expert on drug abuse knows that marijuana need not be smoked to be used as medicine. Simple devices called vaporizers give patients the fast action and dose control they need (and which are major advantages of smoking as opposed to oral ingestion of either marijuana or Marinol) while eliminating nearly all of the irritants in the smoke.
As for Trent’s worry about “massive abuse,” it simply hasn’t happened in the eight states with medical marijuana laws. Indeed, a 2002 report by the General Accounting Office — the investigative arm of Congress — found that the majority of 37 police agencies interviewed reported that the medical marijuana laws had little or no impact on their law enforcement activities.
An honest look at the facts shows that there is no reason to oppose this simple, humane initiative. —Bruce Mirken, Director of Communications, Marijuana Policy Project, Washington, D.C., [email protected]
McCain a party animal
I liked your piece on McCain (“Capable of honor,” Metro Times, April 7). While I think him an honorable man, I wonder if he — as you touched on — understands just where his party is going.
If he was really serious about being the conscience of his party, he would have denounced Trent Lott — before the flap over Strom Thurmond. If he were serious he would have stood against the gutting of clean-air laws and opening of not just Alaska, but thousands of square miles of public land to extractive industries. The fact is, he is a party man.
His support for John Ashcroft also does not square with the “small government” philosophy that Republicans say they favor. They seem to have no problem with very big government intrusions into our lives. —Jesse Emspak, New York, N.Y.
More on McCain
John McCain a hero? A man of great conscience? McCain was part of an aggressive, criminal war in which he joined in the invasion, bombing, killing and poisoning of the people of another country and their soil and water. That’s why he was imprisoned. No aspect of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War was heroic or conscientious. It was one more example of a greedy, brutal and arrogant policy that McCain — learning nothing from his past — now advocates extending in the Middle East, with a military buildup, more invasion, more bombing, killing and poisoning. —John Woodford, Ann Arbor
Glad eye for the food guy
Re: “Curry Favored” (Metro Times, April 7), if I didn’t know better I would have thought I was reading The New York Times. Kudos to Mr. Broder and his edible column. Delightful to read, mouthwatering examples of soon to be Detroit classics. Can’t wait to see where I’m eating next week! Thanks, Metro Times, for adding something new and improved for your circle of readers and feeders. —Jo Strausz Rosen, West Bloomfield
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