Pubdate: Wed, 01 Oct 2014
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2014 The Press-Enterprise Company
Contact: http://www.pe.com/localnews/opinion/letters_form.html
Website: http://www.pe.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/830
Author: Letitia E. Pepper

LET US TEND OUR GARDENS

I was amazed to learn that if anything is not specifically permitted 
by our county ordinances, it is illegal. And since Riverside County 
hasn't graciously given its residents the right to grow medical 
marijuana (a right allowed by state law), anyone doing so in their 
own backyard is a criminal. I hope the county had the foresight to 
legalize roses, citrus and turf grass, too. Otherwise, there are an 
awful lot of criminals in Riverside County.

The reason Californians voted to decriminalize people growing medical 
marijuana is because medical marijuana works when prescription drugs 
don't work as well, or at all. For example, marijuana has kept my 
multiple sclerosis in remission, without side-effect-laden 
prescription drugs, for seven years now, after 14 years of problems 
with prescription drugs.

The supervisors should be very certain that they don't hurt their 
constituents before they adopt such a law. For example, they could 
regulate large-scale commercial production by setting certain 
standards, while not regulating patients' backyards and personal cultivation.

RIVERSIDE, Letitia E. Pepper
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom