Youthful Drinkers in Tijuana Bars

I have just finished reading an article in today’s Times--”New Crowd Bellying Up to Tijuana Bars--Americans Under 21” (Sept. 9)--and I wish you had written that article a couple of weeks ago and published it on Sept. 1. Maybe then Danny David Ornelas, 19, would have gone south to get drunk instead of coming to Newport Beach. Then my friend, Debbie Killelea, would still be alive!

Unfortunately, you waited too long, and Debbie is dead.

You left one important part out of the article: What happens to those kids after the Tijuana taxis dump them off at the border and they stagger to their cars in the parking lots?

Maybe you should ask some of the residents of San Diego what they think. Maybe you should ask some of the people you photographed at Debbie’s funeral how we feel about it.

The only good thing about the article is that maybe it will make one more teen-ager choose the bars of Tijuana instead of the alleys of the Balboa Peninsula.

SUSAN WERNER

Balboa