Dear Editor,
I am very concerned about small kids playing around with green laser pointers. Just recently at the New Year party on the 27th floor of Markland Hotel a young Russian boy was fooling around with this so called “toy”. His sport was to point the laser beam to the head of the guests. I also got a fair share of this dangerous weapon, but then I reacted instantly. I tried to tell the parents in English how dangerous the laser pointer is. But these people did not listen or pretended not to understand English. Two minutes later the father gave the “toy” back to his son.
Even at a distance of 5 Km the beam can cause serious damages to the eyes or even blindness. It is very irresponsible of parents who buy this type of items for their children. The risk that they will harm them self and family members is significantly high.
In Syria the military is using green laser to make demonstrators blind.
In most countries a licence is required for importing a green laser. Customs in the EU and USA are particularly interested of checking passengers arriving from Asia.
Abuse of green lasers that are e.g. used to distract drivers of vehicles or aircraft pilots will bring a prison sentence of 5 years, in most EU countries, if they are caught.
To read more about the laser safety this link is very useful: http://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Laser_safety
Magnus Erikson
M.Sc.
