“Good gracious, Sister Sue, isn’t it just great how our city officials saved us from the scourge of marijuana? It was scary to think of what might have happened if we allowed marijuana production and sales (mainly to people with chronic pain).”
Sarcasm aside, it seems to me that the City Council handled this issue with equal measures of prissy self-righteousness and 19th century mindset.
Alcohol is a far more problematic substance than pot has ever been. Guns cause constant havoc, fear, death and misery, but no one dares suggest that we get rid of them.
The City Council has locked out producers who would bring jobs and revenue to the city. Other more progressive cities will welcome producers and reap the benefits. Whatever awful consequences the Kent City Council imagined will never materialize. Crime will not increase in those cities as a result of these new businesses.
Councilmembers may have ignored the benefits of allowing marijuana production and sale so that they would “look good” to the more conservative voters in the area. But marijuana is not the boogie man here. Pot is a passive, pain-relieving substance that is helpful to people with chronic pain from cancer and other debilitating conditions.
The vote against its production and sale was short-sighted and uninformed. The voters approved the production and sale of marijuana, but the council ignored the will of the people and our democratic process so that they could impose their personal opinions on city policy.
– Sandra Gill
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