Re: “Relieving pain, spurring addiction” (TNT, 4-28).

Arbitrary decisions being made in Olympia to deprive chronic pain sufferers of effective opioid pain medication are draconian and abusive. I am one who lives in hell, due to a chronic, ever-worsening pain syndrome. I’ve endured this for 25 years, and am now, for all intents and purposes, immobilized.

The doctor I previously saw accused me of “just trying to get drugs.” Nothing could be more wrong or more horrible for me to hear. The physician I see now will not allow me any kind of effective pain medication because of the …

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Re: “Why was article even published?” (letter, 4-24).

The writer refuted Professor Robert H. Nelson’s contention that environmentalism and traditional religion are similar. Christianity was cited to support the professor’s argument.

Perhaps the writer is right in claiming the environmental movement cannot be equated to Christianity. Christianity deals with the spirituality of humans while environmentalists deal with the spirituality of trees, etc.

The environmentalists’ literature is loaded with references to the spiritualist feelings projected by living trees, etc. The environmentalists’ near worship of nature could easily be compared to the Druids who preached their religion in ancient Britain …

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Major coal and shipping companies propose to strip-mine coal in Montana and Wyoming, transport it on long coal trains and massive cargo ships through Washington and Oregon, and sell it to Asia. Almost every major Washington community including Tacoma could be impacted.

According to Climate Solutions, shipping 130 million tons of coal annually would add more than 9,000 mile-long coal trains to Washington’s rail system every year. In addition to the added traffic congestion, there would be a variety of other impacts.

Each train car can lose 500 pounds of coal dust en route, polluting rivers, coastlines, farms, cities and …

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It was great news to read (TNT, 4-27) that a division headquarters will once again be assigned to Joint Base Lewis-McChord. Veterans of the 7th Infantry Division should be pleased.

However, I think a better fit for JBLM would have been the 9th Infantry Division. The 9th ID shares 20 years of history with Fort Lewis and was the senior unit on post prior to the reactivation of I Corps.

Further, in the 1980s, the division – serving as the Army’s High Technology Test Bed and evolving into the Army’s only motorized infantry division – laid the foundation for the …

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Re: “When justice was denied and Los Angeles burned” (Leonard Pitts Jr. column, 4-29).

I was there 20 years ago, on duty as a firefighter just blocks from where the riots started. I stood in a sandwich shop and listened to Mayor Tom Bradley on the television.

He said, “The people have to vent their anger.”

I said to my fellow firefighters, “The mayor just started a riot.” I was on duty for 120 hours straight, fighting many fires and treating many injuries during the riots.

The Trayvon Martin incident is not the Rodney King incident, and it isn’t …

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Re: “The $65 pants that promise to hid a concealed weapon” (TNT, 4-29).

I hope I am not the only one appalled by the demand for clothing created specifically to conceal weapons.

I am not comforted by the idea that my “maximum uncertainty” must now include not only the stereotypical dark hoodie and baggie pants, but “a button-down and khakis.”
In addition, I’m pretty sure “fashion-aware gun owner” is an oxymoron.

To misquote the NRA: Guns don’t kill people; people fashionably dressed to conceal weapons, kill people.

Re: “5 reasons why the president will win another term in November” (TNT, 4-29).

Aaron David Miller’s commentary was amazingly dishonest.

• He writes: “Americans are re-electing imperfect and flawed presidents.”

Miller’s believes that those who won re-election – Dwight Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush – were not “very top tier” presidents but goes on to rate “Clinton clearly above average. That’s about where Obama falls.” So a president who cannot run on his record in office is rated as “above average.” Go figure.

•He writes, “Obama has history on his side.”

No, he does …

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Many articles have been written about the recent passing of the marriage equality bill in Washington. Nearly all of them point out the freedom which this law will bring to those seeking a gay marriage, but none highlight the consequences or talk about the purpose of the government passing this bill in the first place.

Our legislators have not thought this through. In the act of redefining marriage, they will in turn redefine the family and the culture around them.

What is the purpose of marriage, and why does the government even recognize it? When the state legally recognizes a …

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