We’ve become slaves to drugs

We’ve become slaves to drugs

I see the city of Warren is hav- ing a problem with heroin.

A couple of thoughts on the subject. The president of Mexico stated that if the people in the USA would quit using drugs there wouldn’t be a problem. Well, we all know that is never going to happen. Why? Two of the worst drugs in existence are alcohol and nicotine, and they are legal, and the people in this country keep using them.

So, let us make the drugs that are illegal legal. Does that seem stupid? Well, so is legalizing alcohol and nicotine. I wonder why that ever happened in the first place. Could it be our government has its hands out and making a huge profit on the drugs that are killing people every single day in this country? To ask the question is to answer it.

Some of the worst things in this country are legal and destroying our country. Free trade is the perfect example, but that’s another letter.

Rea Buttermore, Boardman

Simply delightful Slavic fest ought to be an annual event

The Simply Slavic Festival held recently in downtown Youngstown was a wonderful display of ethnicity, performances, food and camaraderie. I commend the organizers of this first event and hope that plans will be made for it to become an annual occurrence.

Organizing one church, cultural organization or ethnic club festival is difficult; organizing those of more than a dozen cultures would seem nearly impossible. However, that they did and with great collaboration and respect for one another’s strong points and cultural differences.

Any time we can celebrate our individual traditions, no matter what our ethnicity, the more we showcase our collective strengths as a Valley.

Indeed, the traits of hard work, faith and loyalty, learned from our immigrant ancestors, are still in practice today in the Mahoning Valley.

We are fortunate that each culture feels such pride in its ethnic heritage and is passionate about perpetuating its customs to new generations.

Bravo to those who helped in any way and to those who attended. Simply Slavic was simply delightful!

Lori Factor, Youngstown