Letters to the Editor

I’ve heard from all kinds of people about the opioid crisis that is taking the lives of thousands of Americans each year. I’ve heard opinions from lawyers and law enforcement, from judges and junkies, from policemen and politicians. They all seem to agree that doctors should cut way down on prescribing pain killers. There is just one group that I haven’t seen interviewed, the crippled aged hoping to get through another day without giving in to the pain.

There are only two groups of people who want opioids, those who want relief from pain and those who want a high. The latter group are killing themselves, so we’ve decided to protect them by making life harder for the other group. That’s the American way of solving problems. Some people drank too much, so we tried prohibition. Criminals are shooting people, so let’s make it harder for honest people to buy firearms. A lot of fools seeking thrills get hooked on drugs, so let’s make the old folks suffer. We’ll still let them have enough medication to “take the edge off,” but not enough to stop the pain.

I’m not claiming to have answers, I’m just saying that there is a forgotten group that we ought to hear from. And listen to.

Charles Hayes

Tyler

NOT DANGEROUS

I have read with interest the comments on Loop 49 being a “dangerous road.” I find it a well-constructed highway that gives me better access to I-20.

The highway is not dangerous. The danger comes from distracted drivers. Highway 31 is well documented for its fatalities — distracted drivers. The stretch of I20 west of Longview to west of Tyler is also well documented for its fatalities — distracted drivers.

Our problem is how to police distracted drivers, and I am not sure there is a way to do that.

Wherever we travel, I drive as defensively as possible, especially on “dangerous” roads.

Lee Sleeper

Bullard

ZONING CHANGE

Regarding the request for change in zoning in south Tyler, it appears that those who are opposing the change live either in or around the Hollytree area and are in opposition mainly because they fear the old adage, “There goes the neighborhood.”

I am 71 years of age and I grew up across Broadway from Walmart and all the “developments” therewith. When I was a boy, I would fish Mud Creek and hunt the Mud Creek bottom, therefore, I have witnessed a lot of zoning changes in that area. All of that area was nothing but woods. Talk about “there goes the neighborhood.” I and my family, including my aunts and uncles and our neighbors who lived on the east side of Bullard Road, and then Highway 69, which became Broadway, witnessed it all, but that is what they call “progress.”

Without zoning changes there would be no or very little development. Had it not been for zoning changes there would be no Hollytree, and those who live there and around there who oppose this change in zoning would not be living there. The Genecov Group has owned that property for some time and should be able to do whatever they wish with it, save building chicken houses or pig farms and the likes. These people should be more than glad that they live in a town as wonderful as Tyler and welcome others to enjoy it also.

Johnny Smith

Tyler