Pubdate: Thu, 24 Feb 2011
Source: Port Orchard Independent (WA)
Copyright: 2011 Port Orchard Independent
Contact:  http://www.portorchardindependent.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2607
Bookmark: http://mapinc.org/topic/Dispensaries

CITY SHOULD JUST SAY NO TO MARIJUANA DISPENSARIES

The Port Orchard City Council's decision last week to consider a 
six-month moratorium on the licensing of medical marijuana 
dispensaries within the city limits seems like a prudent first step.

We're all for giving the council as much time as it needs to study 
this thorny issue -- say, six years or, better yet, 600 -- but since 
legal niceties have to be observed, six months is as good a starting 
point as any.

Marijuana use has been legal in Washington under certain medical 
guidelines since voters approved Initiative 692 in 1998.

This has led in recent years to the opening of numerous marijuana 
"dispensaries," including one just down the road in Belfair, whose 
owners have expressed a desire to expand into the Port Orchard market.

Being proactive, however, the city council last week discussed 
postponing a decision about whether that was a good thing until it 
had a chance to weigh all the facts. And when it does, we hope the 
council will come to the obvious conclusion that medical marijuana is 
a scam and Port Orchard shouldn't be a party to it.

According to no less an authority than the U.S. Drug Enforcement 
Agency's website, "...the campaign to allow marijuana to be used as 
medicine is a tactical maneuver in an overall strategy to completely 
legalize all drugs. Pro-legalization groups have transformed the 
debate from decriminalizing drug use to one of compassion and care 
for people with serious diseases."

The website further notes that numerous studies have repeatedly 
concluded, "Marijuana has no medical value that can't be met more 
effectively by legal drugs."

No one wants to see sick people suffer. But the only thing worse is 
exploiting their pain in a cynical attempt to rehabilitate the image 
of what the DEA classifies as a "dangerous, addictive drug that poses 
significant health threats to users."

If other cities want to play the stooge for Washington's pothead 
lobby, that's their problem. But Port Orchard should just say no.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom