Letters to the editor for Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Learn about history of vaccines

Vaccine skeptics have taken the time to inform themselves of risks and benefits and aren’t convinced by the propaganda coming out of the unholy triad of vaccine industry, government and fund-dependent academia.

Contrary opinions about vaccine safety and effectiveness are not well tolerated at any level in the healthcare industry. The profit-driven vaccine industry has little incentive to prove that vaccines are truly safe and effective. They have government-granted, broad immunity from liability lawsuits. Vaccines are not subject to double or triple blind studies.

Historically, vaccines came at a time when many important diseases had declined to a tiny fraction of their peaks. At the same time deaths from pertussis, measles and smallpox were rapidly declining, we saw the same for typhoid fever, scarlet fever and cholera without vaccines because of important advances in public health measures, including controls on water quality, industry pollution, food, child and adult labor and general improved quality of life. You can’t expect a population that lives in squalor to be saved by vaccines.

The vaccine industry has controlled the narrative for over 150 years, vigorously suppressing any evidence that safety and effectiveness were concerns. I encourage everyone to spend a few minutes with “Dissolving Illusions” by Humphries. This history of vaccines is filled with excellent studies of smallpox, polio, pertussis and measles. Spoiler alert — it isn’t all sunshine and rainbows for vaccines.

Daniel Schlenger

Carson City

Think safety over money on marijuana

Opium is a mind-altering chemical. Heroin is a mind-altering chemical. Methamphetamine is a mind-altering chemical. Alcohol is a mind-altering chemical. Nicotine is a mind-altering chemical. Marijuana is a mind-altering chemical.

Colorado has admitted to having 11 small children admitted to emergency rooms due to ingesting edible marijuana products. One of those died. They have had 10 known house fires due to people cooking hash oil from marijuana.

So why is our state government caving in to the pot heads? Because there is so much money to be made.

The next step will be to allow legalized methamphetamine “for specific purposes,” of course. Then, who knows? Maybe opium and heroin. After all, alcohol and cigarettes haven’t had any negative effect on us, have they?

Mike Enright

Carson City