Sen. Charles Fuschillo writes of "absurdities" in his letter in the Feb. 15 issue while making absurd comments himself. Like a typical Republican politician, Fuschillo spews forth hoping that the readers of his letter don't bother to check the veracity of what he writes. Senator Fuschillo is either willfully ignorant of the facts or more than willing to deceive the readers of the Farmingdale Observer.

Fuschillo's attack on Governor Spitzer's proposal to "tax" drug sales ignores the fact that the governor does not expect drug dealers to pay pre-sale tax on their drugs by buying the tax stamps. Like the 29 other states which have the same law, drug dealers will be fined after they are arrested. I hope Fuschillo doesn't really believe that drug dealers will come forward to pay taxes. The point is to make the drug dealers pay for their crimes on top of going to jail. And even if the dealer gets a light sentence, he will still have to pay the fine. This system works quite well in states like Texas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Georgia and Utah.

The "confidentiality clause" is there to protect the constitutionality of the law. In the other states, there have been attempts to overturn the existing drug tax law because of double jeopardy claims. Maybe Fuschillo knows that already but decided deception is the way to go when writing to his constituents. And again, no one expects drug dealers to pay their taxes. In North Carolina, the only people buying the tax stamps are stamp collectors.

I'm trying to figure out how as Fuschillo says in his closing that this will put citizens "in further danger." Most likely it's just a hyperbole of someone who would rather use scare tactics than the facts. Instead of attacking a proposal that will penalize drug dealers and make money for the state, Fuschillo can come up with his own plan for increasing revenue without taxing honest working people.

I, for one, applaud the governor for using whatever means allowed to punish drug dealers and use their illicit gains to help the state.

John Rennhack