Pubdate: Sun, 21 Aug 2016 Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA) Copyright: 2016 The Press Democrat Contact: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348 Author: Marlene Lowenthal Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v16/n549/a04.html CANNABIS? NO THANKS EDITOR: Santa Rosa is a destination for tourism, dining, wine tasting, boutique breweries, cycling, and the list goes on. Job growth and increasing real estate values are all the more reason not to encourage an industry such as the production of cannabis to be a part of our local economy ("SR aims to be epicenter of legal pot industry," Aug. 14). It brings with it health and safety hazards and environmental concerns. The industry also encourages low-wage earners and has low-density employment. There are other cities that need the ability to survive and, hopefully, thrive that the cannabis industry can provide. I strongly oppose any movement toward allowing the commercial production or refinement of cannabis in our community. I further believe that there needs to be a reduction in the number of dispensaries. MARLENE LOWENTHAL Santa Rosa - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom