Letters: Readers discuss COVID-19 vaccines, Kansas City drug court and Afghanistan

Young wisdom

My next-door neighbor had her 12th birthday last week. Want to know what she did the next day? She went to get her first COVID-19 vaccine. Why did she do so? Because at 12 years old, she is smarter than a lot of adults.

She knows the vaccine is safe. She trusts the science behind its development. She knows it takes all of us, working together, to see our way out of this pandemic.

Now, she will go into a new school year protecting herself, her classmates, her teachers, her parents, her grandparents and her younger siblings who cannot yet be vaccinated. And, yes, she’s protecting me, her very proud neighbor, and the rest of our neighborhood.

Be smart like my 12-year-old neighbor. Get your vaccine.

- Brenda Allison, Parkville

Drugs’ costs

I recently reviewed the story “Prosecutor urges police to focus less on low-level drug crimes” from the July 9 front page. As someone 33 years clean, who teaches a graduate course in addictions and specializes in trauma and addiction treatment, I could not disagree more with the Jackson County prosecutor’s office. It is completely wrong in its assumptions almost entirely across the board.

Addiction is a progressive disease. Untreated, you can expect crime to increase. The research I have done for years shows that drug courts save about $25,000 per individual per year versus incarceration. The prosecutor’s assumption about savings is based only on explicit costs. Implicit cost of getting rid of these programs would be huge. It’s a bit like a doctor saying “I’m not going to bother treating minor infections anymore. I’m only dealing with amputations.” Expect the number of amputations to increase.

Drug courts provide incentive for treatment of a disease that might otherwise go untreated and escalate. I would welcome an editorial or public debate with the prosecutor on this issue, or I would be willing to provide research that, I suspect, has been ignored for the most part.

- Robert Cox, Excelsior Springs

Wrong policy

President Joe Biden, you have slapped the face of each and every member of our military and their loved ones. By withdrawing from Afghanistan, you have made all the sacrifices they made worthless. (Aug. 17, 1A, “US official: Top commander talks with Taliban on evacuation”)

The blood of those who lost their lives and the innocent Afghan people who will ultimately loses theirs is on your hands. I voted for you and would openly vote you right back out again for this careless and inhumane decision you’ve made despite the consequences to innocent men, women and children.

I cry and pray for the families of American service men and women who lost their lives and for the Afghan people. They didn’t ask for this. You’ve soiled the office of the president in less than one year. This decision will be your legacy. You gave the Taliban exactly what they wanted. Absolutely disgraceful.

- Deborah Jenkins, Kansas City

The right call

Ultimately, history will prove that President Joe Biden did the right thing in Afghanistan. The main problem was in the poor preparation, resulting in the lack of organization and the ensuing chaos.

Everybody should have foreseen the Taliban’s rapid advance that transpired. If 20 years of attempting to teach a nation how to defend itself falls apart in one week, it’s obvious its people are unteachable. They either don’t know or don’t care about protecting their own country.

I feel for the Afghan citizens, but it’s up to them to start a revolution on their own now.

- Mark Prellberg, Kansas City

This story was originally published August 18, 2021 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Letters: Readers discuss COVID-19 vaccines, Kansas City drug court and Afghanistan."