Alcohol, Tobacco Are Even Bigger Killers

I wish sportswriters would get out of the business of drug prevention because they are misinforming the public of the hazards of chemical dependency. This has been an ongoing problem since last June in the cocaine-related deaths of Len Bias and Don Rogers.

Jim Murray’s column (Feb. 6) inspired me to write. Murray informs the reading public that crack is responsible for more heartaches than any myocardial infarction, that it kills more people than holiday traffic, and that it is the most diabolical form of harmful substance to appear in this century.

A few facts, Mr. Murray. I have worked in the field of chemical dependency for 13 years and serve as the director of a treatment center in San Diego. Alcohol is still our country’s No. 1 drug problem. Nicotine is still our No. 1 killer in drug-related deaths.

Nicotine is responsible for 1,000 related deaths per day in our country. Alcohol is responsible for 268 related deaths each day from such major diseases as cirrhosis of the liver, which Murray minimized tremendously and even used as material for jokes in his column on the death of Bobby Layne (Dec. 2).

Cocaine is responsible for one related death per day. My intent is not to minimize the seriousness of cocaine, rather to inform the public of the facts about other drugs. Alcohol is the substance that kills 25,000 drivers, passengers and pedestrians on our streets and highways each year.

We cannot have athletes say no to drugs and allow them to compete in stadiums where the two leading killer drugs are advertised on the billboards. We must be consistent in our thinking, our writing and our message to the public.

MARK GREENBERG

Rancho Bernardo