Everyone is so caught up by the opiate problem but alcohol is a bigger problem. To compare, 88,000 people died from alcohol in 2014; opiate deaths came to 56,000. Hmmm.

The difference is that alcohol is legal and states take in millions of dollars in taxes on the sales. If states made money from heroin sales. … would they care?

People die every day from alcohol abuse.

The Maine Legislature gets caught up on a bottle deposits bill for those 1-ounce bottles because some legislator found one by the roadside. The real issue is that those 1-ounce bottles are marketed to the poor. Get after the liquor companies.

The state makes a lot of money from the sale of alcohol. No problem. The Legislature and the governor need a reality check.

Michael Tetreault, Lewiston