My nine-year-old son had to get an ID card (fingerprint and photo) in order to play school basketball (the Spanish federation demands it). A 42-year-old Spanish friend of mine was refused entry to the casino in Benidorm because she forgot her ID card. I have just sent an e-mail to El Mundo (one of the Spanish dailies) and had to leave my residence permit number. My question to all of this is: why?ALAN WALKERMADRID, SPAIN Overindulgence in God Sir: The new Bill legislating against Incitement to Religious Hatred should instead be trying to ban Incitement to Religious Extremism. For the record I was born on a working-class council estate where most of my family still live.She acknowledges that different sections of society prefer to be addressed in different ways That is my point completely. Putting words like "lady" and "granddad" on a proscribed list limits freedom of expression and removes freedom of choice from people who prefer to be called by those titles.
I have no problem in calling a woman a woman if that is what that individual prefers. But I would no more ban the word woman because some ladies find that term offensive.The more serious aspect of this story that was totally missed by this column is that by putting words like "lady" in the same context as obviously abhorrent racist and homophobic slurs cheapens the impact of those slurs. Extrapolate that nationally and it might start to look like a national disaster.Maybe that would wake the politicians to thinking the unthinkable: that by providing controlled, legal outlets of injectables from GP surgeries or other acceptable centres, morbidity and mortality rates would fall, as would drug-related crimes.An opportunity would also be provided from these outlets to provide the support and education which might help people to consider the ultimate goal of abstinence and allow them to become active citizens again.DR NICK MAURICEMARLBOROUGH WILTSHIRE Some women prefer to be called ladies Sir: It's a shame that in an otherwise interesting article Jemima Lewis (Opinion, 21 October) chooses to speculate on my class background. I lost three patients from unintentional heroin overdose in my community of 7,000 in the course of two years. Could he tell us how many young people die unintentionally in this country every year, either as a result of using adulterated heroin which kills them because of its impurities, or because they have used a purer brand than usual, and therefore taken a stronger dose than they realise?The number of deaths from "accidental overdose", excluding those of young children who raid the medicine cupboard, should be made public for us all to see; likewise the morbidity rates from injecting heroin.
In the towns of Cromer and North Walsham and the parish of East Runton - which have a combined population of some 22,000 people - no fewer than 15 24-hour licences have been granted.This is half of the "about 30" round-the-clock licences expected for England and Wales (population around 60m). Either this figure is wildly wrong or we in north Norfolk are particularly blessed with 24/7 boozers.JOHN MORGANCROMER, NORFOLK All drug deaths must be counted Sir: Johann Hari again rightly raises the issue of the legalisation of drugs (20 October). This tallies with culture minister James Purnell's statement on 10 October that "little evidence exists of more than a handful of bars and clubs applying for 24-hour licences".Experience in this part of Norfolk suggests these figures are a huge underestimate. This is, of course, just another way of saying increased privatisation.The NHS continues to care for a great number of the less advantaged in society. The misfortune of having a disabled child nor a perceived bad experience is not a guarantee that you have the answers to its ills.
