Surprised everyone maybe not. I called that one in the begining lol.

I have heard that those opposed to the proliferation of Marijuana stores were yelled at and sworn at outside the Council meeting today. I only wish others had the guts and moral center needed to stand up against the big money and hatefulness being displayed by the proponents. Council members have reportedly been been receiving threats. Perhaps I will too.

Of course it is a hard battle to take on this issue in California. A majority may currently be for the weed tax. But,what worthwhile cause has ever been anything but hard. Our state will be laughed at by those with better common sense. In fact one of my most vivid memories when I was a young boy was seeing Governor George Wallace blocking those young black kids from going to school. Huge forces were at work to keep that wrong practice in place. The majority at the time especially in that state were for separate schools. I was embarrassed that my last name was associated with that incredible wrong. But those who knew it was wrong stood up to the others and won a hard fought victory. We expect our council members do do the same. For those running for Council, the idea of getting elected by not stating your true position in order to hopefully do good later is something that I truly believe the current mood of the voters rejects.

I believe that marijuana should be available for cancer patients through pharmacies. It is one of the tools against the pain and nausea that is so hard to bear. But it isn’t the only tool or remedy. It should be dispensed like all the other drugs to avoid long term addiction. For those who don’t think I understand what cancer patients go through, my father recently passed from the results of Colon Cancer and my son lost his leg to a most painful rare bone cancer. But there is so much that is wrong about the medical marijuana deception. For instance, what other prescription do you know of that is unlimited in its prescription where you can use it all day every day without limits. What other prescription is given by a Dr without truly checking first to see if it conflicts with other medicines being taken. Yes alcohol is just as bad or worse. How does that make Marijuana right? If everyone could do a police ride along they would see what this culture of substance use and abuse creates.

There is supposed to be money to be made by local governments.But the cost outweighs the payoff of the cities & counties. Weed takes the ambition out of those who use it. How then does that provide a future for our kids in education. Our economy of the future will be full of those who simply do not care to take up where we have left off. Alcoholics, addicts and weed smokers don’t raise kids well. As the Exec of 4 Boys & Girls Clubs I saw the pain the kids went through when their parents came to pick them up, if…they even remembered to or were not having the grand parents or someone else raise them. Some were actually living in cars under bridges with no money for rent but and coats for their kids but somehow enough to get high every night.My wife grew up in that environment as a child. It caused numerous scars and challenges to growing up.

I was a drug and alcohol counselor at SRC. Every one of my clients started out on weed. It led to other drugs in two ways. First, once the threshold of using drugs of any kind was crossed it was only a matter of time before the next one was tried. Second was that weed lowered their level of conscience while they were using it to the point that they said yes to whatever the next drug being offered happened to be.

Finally,I have seen close relatives take that path. Their excuses mirrored those of the collectives clients. They couldn’t wait to get their ” medical card” someday. Of course it led to other substances and dampened their ambitions.Dreams…always dreams but no goals were reached.

The sin tax route may be appealing to cash strapped cities but taken to its end it is not a logical argument. By that reasoning taxing prostitution is most likely next. Having governments taxing weed is a cop out to growing a legitimate economy and stable jobs. Becoming the next step up the distribution ladder and local government taking a taste of the action is just plain wrong. And if the tax gets too high (excuse the pun) as government needs another money fix the market will adjust and simply undercut the price of government endorsed weed and sell it on the streets as they do now. That is already beginning to happen according to what I’ve have read.

This is an important issue to the fabric of our community character.The current Council and 10 candidates might appreciate that there are many citizens who feel the way I do who are reluctant to speak out yet still regularly vote. There are eight voters in our immediate family who feel that way. Hopefully California will wake up and not let our collective ambitions go up in smoke.

Duane Wallace

I am a drug addict and alcoholic who has managed to be free of both for nearly twenty years now. While I support the use of MJ for medical use, I concur with Duane and his message. I have lived his story first hand. Great content Duane !

Duane,

Well stated. Thank You!!!!

Clearly, this is a very controversial and important issue….too important NOT to base any decision on current, factual information thus I am compelled to respond to some of Duane Wallace’s statements. But first I want to commend Duane and all posters who do not use a pseudonym. There are far too many posters who make outrageous statements but, IMHO, hurt their credibility because they aren’t accountable for their words while they are hiding behind a pseudonym. I’m sure there are those with valid reasons (ie: their jobs may be at risk for stating their opinions) but by and large, they are in the minority.

Now, let’s look at some of Mr. Wallace’s statements:
“I have heard that those opposed to the proliferation of Marijuana stores were yelled at and sworn at outside the Council meeting today. I only wish others had the guts and moral center needed to stand up against the big money and hatefulness being displayed by the proponents.”
I was at the meeting and did not see anything like what is described here. If there were in fact incidents as described, they (it?) must have been very isolated as I spent over 3 hours in and around the council chamber, lobby and parking lot until most everyone had left and didn’t witness anything of that nature.

“I believe that marijuana should be available for cancer patients through pharmacies. It is one of the tools against the pain and nausea that is so hard to bear. But it isn’t the only tool or remedy. It should be dispensed like all the other drugs to avoid long term addiction.”

Pain and nausea are only a fraction of the conditions that cannabis has been shown to be effective against. The scientific literature is exploding with studies that confirm it’s efficacy in treating a long list of maladies from ALS to Tourette’s Syndrome. Simply do a search on the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed website to confirm this. It has now been scientifically determined that cannabinoid receptor sites exist in the nervous system of all but the simplest of life forms. The human body’s neurological, circulatory, endocrine, digestive and musculoskeletal systems posses cannabinoid receptor sites. Even cartilage has cannabinoid receptors making cannabis a prime therapeutic agent to treat osteoarthritis. There are reams of studies that I could cite…but you get the picture. While cannabis isn’t the only tool or remedy as Duane points out, it is the only one that demonstrates a remarkably low toxicity. Lethal doses in humans have not been identified. This degree of safety is very rare among modern meds…including most over-the-counter meds. Furthermore, cannabis is NOT ADDICTIVE. This is pure folklore and a commonly held belief among those who have not adequately studied the issue.

“But there is so much that is wrong about the medical marijuana deception. For instance, what other prescription do you know of that is unlimited in its prescription where you can use it all day every day without limits. What other prescription is given by a Dr without truly checking first to see if it conflicts with other medicines being taken?”
Again, refer to the studies on cannabis’ extremely low toxicity. It is much safer than all those prescription drugs and thus has no need for the pages of warnings and potential side effects that ALL prescription drugs come with. That is why big pharma has worked through it’s lobbyists to keep cannabis from being restored to the Physicians Desk Reference after it’s removal in 1942. They can’t make obscene profits from toxic ‘medications’ if people have access to an effective, non toxic remedy that they could grow at a fraction of the cost.

“Yes alcohol is just as bad or worse. How does that make Marijuana right? If everyone could do a police ride along they would see what this culture of substance use and abuse creates.”

Yet prohibition of alcohol failed just as the politically and financially motivated witch hunt against cannabis has failed. One has only to look at traffic accident statistics and read recent studies on the effects of alcohol vs. cannabis on motor skills to see that the death, destruction and mayhem caused by alcohol abuse is in a league of it’s own and can’t reasonably be compared to cannabis…not even close.

” Weed takes the ambition out of those who use it. How then does that provide a future for our kids in education. Our economy of the future will be full of those who simply do not care to take up where we have left off. Alcoholics, addicts and weed smokers don’t raise kids well.”

Rubbish! Two of the most financially successful and hard-working people I know smoke pot daily. Examples of this can be found everywhere—just look at our current city council race. You may not agree with them…but that does not obviate the fact that there are hard-working, motivated people in all walks of life who regularly use cannabis. The a-motivational syndrome you refer (reefer?) to is another myth. Motivation is part of a complex set influences in a persons life and just because SOME pot smokers may not be very motivated, that can also be said of virtually any sub-group of people. Ditto the parenting.

” First, once the threshold of using drugs of any kind was crossed it was only a matter of time before the next one was tried. Second was that weed lowered their level of conscience while they were using it to the point that they said yes to whatever the next drug being offered happened to be.”

The ‘gateway drug’ argument is another favorite talking point of the uninformed.
Impulse control can vary widely from person to person and those who have poor impulse control are vulnerable to anything from overdosing on hard drugs, becoming alcoholics or becoming shopaholics on QVC.

” By that reasoning taxing prostitution is most likely next. Having governments taxing weed is a cop out to growing a legitimate economy and stable jobs. Becoming the next step up the distribution ladder and local government taking a taste of the action is just plain wrong. And if the tax gets too high (excuse the pun) as government needs another money fix the market will adjust and simply undercut the price of government endorsed weed and sell it on the streets as they do now. That is already beginning to happen according to what I’ve have read.”

Prostitutes already pay taxes on their income (pardon THAT pun!)
Marijuana IS California’s top cash crop beating out even grapes. Tax it properly and fairly and none of the doom and gloom you predict will transpire.

Once one takes a logical and non-jaundiced look at the benefits to society that a legal and regulated cannabis industry can provide, making the right decision is…well…a no-brainer! (sorry, I couldn’t resist !)

I think Duanes point is that it is more “common” for parents who do not set the example of having a “crutch” to lean on while raising kids have better outcomes of their offspring being more productive and making better choices in life.