Beech Tree News Network

Dear Editor:
    I am asking my Butler County friends and neighbors to vote NO to the sale of alcohol in this county.  As a prosecutor for the past 17 years, I have been a witness to the toll that alcohol has taken on our community.   I have worked with our law enforcement to investigate and prosecute assaults that occurred as a result of alcohol.  I have assisted the victims of domestic violence caused by the use of alcohol.  I have comforted loved ones of victims lost or injured to drunk drivers.  I have recognized the harm the use of alcohol has done to our families.  Not surprisingly, I have spoken to many defendants who desperately wish to break their dependence on alcohol.
Many argue that alcohol, legally purchased from our neighboring counties, is obviously already here so why should we not profit from the sale of it. Let us not be mistaken, legalizing the sale of alcohol in this county will result in the increased acceptance of alcohol, as well as its increased use in our community.   Increased acceptance and use of alcohol will result in the increased harm to our community, our citizens and our families. 
While I respect those who have advocated the legalization of the sale of alcohol in Butler County, I fail to see the benefit to this community as a whole while realizing the consequences to those innocent victims that live, work and raise families here.  I have never met anyone who has found prosperity at the bottom of a bottle, nor do I believe that prosperity will come to this county from a tax on that bottle. 
Please vote NO to alcohol sales in Butler County. 

  Respectfully,

 Tim Coleman