Pubdate: Sat, 10 Jan 2015
Source: Press-Enterprise (Riverside, CA)
Copyright: 2015 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: Ken Cable

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF POT LEGALIZATION

The Press-Enterprise continues its relentless push to open up 
Riverside County to the blessings of the kind of fallout from the 
cannabis clouds now forming over of Washington and Colorado. In 
"Poised to legalize pot?" [Editorial, Jan. 7], it declares positively 
that "the legalization of marijuana is a matter of when  not if" in 
the Inland Empire. The P-E's curious position is that elected 
representatives' reluctance in San Bernardino and Riverside to 
approve medical marijuana dispensaries has been a failure to respond 
to the demands of the people who sent them to the councils to make 
such decisions.

The P-E is pushing for an initiative so that the people can decide 
the issue. In a state and county where only 15 percent or so of 
voters bother to vote on such special issues, who does the P-E think 
will flock to the polls to vote for marijuana? Of course, an 
initiative is a nice way for community leaders to avoid direct 
responsibility just in case the sky falls on the Inland Empire  as it 
apparently has on Denver. Warnings that the lucrative tax 
expectations may fall short were ignored in Colorado, as were the 
predictions that "sick" people seeking marijuana remedies, and the 
homeless, would flock to Denver and the cannabis black market would 
shrink into the shadows and fade away.

Observe: "Dispensaries a thorn to legal pot states" [Nation, Jan. 3] 
reports that tax revenues in Colorado have fallen far short of rosy 
expectations, that black market sales are successfully competing with 
"legal" outlets and that the number of pot patients registered in 
Colorado went up, not down. Apparently, recreational pot users in 
Colorado have discovered that by searching their bodies for illnesses 
that would qualify them for medical marijuana they could save lots in taxes.

Epidemics of newly discovered pot-qualifying illnesses can be 
expected to sweep states and communities that offer this benefit. Oh, 
and "Denver shelters say legalized pot proves a big draw for 
homeless" [Business, Jan. 4] reports a steady rise in homeless 
persons seeking shelter and medical marijuana in Denver. A potential 
bright spot when/if the P-E's campaign is successful might be the 
county and its communities will garner enough tax money to help pay 
the costs of these unintended consequences.

Ken Cable

Canyon Lake
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom