I am writing in response to David Babcock's letter "Land of the free." I sure am proud and thankful to live in a country that stands for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, the land of the free and the home of the brave. Freedom is something I believe in. The abuse of it is something I don't.

Wouldn't it just be fine if we could do whatever gave us pleasure? "I'm not hurting anyone, as long as I do it alone, to myself." I hate that attitude and it's one I find all too often. One I thought was reasonable till something very recently happened in my life.

You see, I'm engaged. My fiancee is not only a pretty woman but a beautiful one as well. She cares about people and that led her to become a nurse. She sure is good at what she does, too. I'm proud of her.

This past November, an intravenous drug user was admitted to the hospital where she works because of sickness related to his drug use. She told me of how his arms were a mess and how poor the condition of his veins were. The man refused to having an AIDS test done and was therefore charted as a possible AIDS patient.

One day, my fiancee was taking a blood sample from him. There was an accident and she pricked herself with the needle.

Now we both know that the possibility of contracting AIDS by such means is highly unlikely, but it has happened. There have been four reported cases of the same thing happening to other nurses all who contracted the HIV virus.

For the past seven weeks we've both had many fears, angers, and doubts. Here was a man I'll never see or meet and yet what he chose to do in private has affected my life in a tremendous way.

I will never accept the "What I do will never hurt anyone else" attitude. I will never accept the legalization of drugs either. People who care suffer because of people who don't. Drugs don't need to be legalized -- people need to change.

A society that allows anything, including the selling, buying, and abuse of drugs, will eventually fall and real freedom will be gone as we as a nation are slaves to corruption, drugs, infectious diseases, and leaders who will be oppressive. I encourage you to read an article titled "There was a Nation. . ." in the January 1989 issue of Reader's Digest.