Pubdate: Thu, 02 Sep 2010 Source: Chico Enterprise-Record (CA) Copyright: 2010 Chico Enterprise-Record Contact: http://www.chicoer.com/feedback Website: http://www.chicoer.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/861 Website: http://www.chicoer.com/opinion/ci_15970657 Author: Robert Galia Note: Letters from newspaper's circulation area receive publishing priority CHICO DOESN'T NEED HUGE CANNABIS FARM Having read Sunday's "People on the Street" column, I feel compelled to remind us that as long as we have so much misinformation, prejudice and fear, we can never have intelligent debate. Most of us know by now that the whole "cannabis is evil" myth was born out of a conspiracy started back in the 1930s. Most of us know by now that the cannabis plant is in fact a medicine, a wonderful and healthy substitute for addictive and unhealthy synthetic narcotics. Most of us agree that it is, in comparison to alcohol, a far safer choice, less disruptive and less deadly. We've all heard opponents of cannabis, having no factual support to talk about, resort to claiming they've watched people ruin their lives. Sorry, I'm not buying it. We have over 700 patients in our collective and I've met them all, and not one of them is ruining their life. This kind of misunderstanding occurs when people who are doing much harder drugs end up smoking pot to help them come down from their binges. Association is not causation. To the question at hand: This proposed mega-grow is a slap in the face to the whole movement, which is about our right to control what we put in our bodies. We are happily employing ourselves growing our own, we are generously paying our taxes, and so we don't really need this mega whatever trying to usurp control and monopolize the industry. - -Robert Galia, Chico - --- MAP posted-by: Matt