Letters to the Editor

Kitten Rescue needs new garage sale site

Editor, the Journal,

Kitten Rescue has lost our access to parking for our garage sales due to new ownership of the property next to the rescue. Our garage sales fund approximately one-quarter of our yearly budget. We have reached out to the state Department of Transportation to help in planning new property access off of state Route 3. We are also seeking other solutions and asking for the community’s help. We have permission to use the parking lot for the March 8 sale only. If anyone has any ideas for our upcoming sales (after March 8) please reach out to Kitten Rescue at krmasoncounty@gmail.com.

Deedre Sigmond, Shelton 

Cycle of violence

Editor, the Journal,

February was Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month, TDVAM. This is a national program that promotes gender respect in young people and makes teens aware of the legal price they pay for violence or threats. Feb. 4 was Wear Orange Day to show support for TDVAM.  We need to break the cycle of family violence; teens need TDVAM. Were Mason County teens or Mason County schools aware of TDVAM? 

Mason County schools are failing; it started with the unnecessary closure of our schools over COVID. It continues with the decline of our educational scores, as shown by national statistics on subject matter scores. Educators, open up our schools; participate in programs like TDVAM.

Women are encouraged to report abuse to the police and social workers. If women don’t fight back, does this send a message to daughters to “just take the abuse?” Does this tell sons there are no consequences to family violence? We need to break the cycle of family violence. A good place to start is with the young people, especially dating teens. Mason County needs TDVAM. Our county has a great family violence support system in Turning Pointe. Ask them to help organize a TDVAM program in each high school. The Journal should report on TDVAM progress, school by school.

Another failure by our schools is academic focus. Teens need an education on life skills, not college prep. Less than half of high school graduates finish college but everyone graduates to life. Schools must be at the forefront to teach life skills; jury duty, taxes, voting, politics, citizenship, community respect. This would also include eliminating family violence, using programs like TDVAM. When will our schools get their act together?

Ardean Anvik, Shelton

Nature of kratom

Editor, the Journal,

I was a bit disappointed by two articles published on Feb. 20, “Gas Station Heroin” and “Council hears perils of youth abusing drugs.” It’s important to have accurate and complete information to keep our children and communities safe, and these articles fell short.

The information I’m going to share comes from peer-reviewed scientific journals.

The moniker “gas station heroin” is sensational and misrepresents the psychopharmacology of kratom. Heroin is an opioid. The primary psychoactive alkaloid in opioids is morphine. Kratom is not an opioid. Kratom has two primary psychoactive alkaloids, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine.

“It has the same effect on the body as heroin.” This is false. The psychoactive alkaloids in opioids and kratom do interact with the same opioid receptors in the brain. However, morphine is a full agonist, meaning it binds to and activates those receptors. “MG” and “7-HMG” are partial agonists and antagonists of those same receptors, meaning they partially bind and do not activate. Partial agonists and antagonists produce similar effects as agonists, but to a much lesser degree. One might assume that since the same receptors are involved it carries the same risk, but that is false.

The most important distinction between kratom and opioids is that the mechanism of action that causes respiratory depression in opioids is not present in kratom. Respiratory depression is how one dies from opioids. In animal trials, there is no clear mechanism in which kratom alone, even taken at high doses, would directly cause death. This makes kratom exponentially safer than heroin.

Studies have revealed that adulterated kratom products carry the risk. Regulation and age restrictions can significantly mitigate that risk. Kratom is not the boogeyman. Kratom leaves have been safely consumed in Asia for centuries. Having accurate information is the key to taking action from a grounded place.

T. Greene, Shelton

Headline didn’t match the story

Editor, the Journal,

Two news articles in the Feb. 27 issue caught my eye. Both were related in one way or another.

1) The use of the phrase, “bails out” in the lead article, “City Council bails out nonprofit,” suggests that somehow Community Lifeline was at fault for their fiscal predicament. Upon reading the entire article, it would appear not so. Better to have used, “rescues,” “saves” or any number of synonyms without the pejorative connotation associated in “bail out.”

2) One of the recurring costs mentioned in the article on page 10 was for a monthly $1,000 garbage bill. On the facing page 11, was a small article about “Free dump vouchers from county,” which included the total amount of these free vouchers, “just under $40,000.” Less than 1/3 of Mason County Garbage’s vouchers could pay for a year’s pickup at Community Lifeline.

3) Dean Jewett’s opposition to “loaning money to the nonprofit” was blatantly disingenuous. Which would be easier: to move ALL the homeless outside downtown or relocate one business?

Bill Pfender, Shelton