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Your Side: The Readers Take Over

No want, or need, to legalize marijuana

To the editor:

The citizens of Ohio have voted “no” to drugs in Ohio. They do not want to make medical marijuana legal. They want to get rid of the drug epidemic. They are tired of ruined lives and drug overdoses.

We do not want, or need, to make marijuana legal.

DORIS BOUGHTON,

Salem

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The voices of sexual assault victims need to be heard

To the editor:

I am a local high school student wanting to raise awareness to the issue about how victims of sexual assault don’t have a voice.

In the best selling-book “milk and honey,” author Rupi Kaur writes: “Sex takes the consent of two/ if one person is lying there not doing anything/cause they are not ready/or not in the mood/or simply don’t want to/yet the other is having sex/with their body it’s not love/it is rape.”

“No” does not mean “yes” or “maybe.” It means “no.” Nothing more, nothing less. Like most people learn this at young age, many are starting to realize the truth of life. You are taught if something happened to you, you should keep quiet. Many are told that if you are a rape victim, to not stand up, to not tell the police.

I know someone who I am really close with in my life who has been sexually assaulted. She spoke up, she fought for him to go to jail. This happens more often than you think. According to rainn.org nearly one in six women are a victim of sexual assault; and one out of 10 victims are men. So many people have been told to be quiet about their story. According to wcsap.org a woman is raped every two minutes. According to nctsn.org as many as one out of four girls and one out of six boys will experience some form of sexual abuse before the age of 18. With those statistics, we as Americans should be able to take a stand and not get harassed for speaking up.

Here are some websites you can go to, to read some stories:

www.avoicefortheinnocent.org

https://www.rainn.org/survivor-stories

www.victimrights.org

www.pandys.org

www.invisiblepeople.tv/Homelessness

You are never alone. There is plenty of help. If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please speak up. Get your justice. Get closure. You can seek help by calling the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673).

Alysa Halstead,

Sebring

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