Sports Vs. Drugs

Your article concerning drug abuse among sports figures (SPORT, Aug. 25) shows the ills of our society. Athletes should learn to take responsibility for their actions. In taking drugs, Basketball Star Len Bias and Cleveland Browns Safety Don Rogers were acting of their own free will. Choice and freedom are the backbone of our society, and we should not hold others, including those who supplied Bias and Rogers with cocaine, liable for their self-inflicted misjudgments.

Jeffrey P. Carver

Rocky Mount, N.C.

The trouble is that Americans tend to think of athletes as godlike beings. To be a professional athlete one must be an exceptional athlete, not an exceptional person. Drug use is just one way that mediocre individuals respond to financial success.

Richard A. Phelps

Upton, N.Y.

When the Chicago White Sox threw the World Series in 1919, Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis barred the guilty players for life. This courageous decision helped usher in a new era of popularity and prosperity for baseball, as public confidence in the game was restored. The same courage is needed now to fight the players' unions, which are blocking random drug testing.

Francis N. DeSalvo

Pennsauken, N.J.