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MARIJUANA IS HERE, DESPITE COUNTY BANS

I see that the small-minded, hopelessly out of touch people calling the shots in Umatilla and Morrow counties have done everything possible to prevent "reefer madness" from infecting our community.  Thursday was the first day that it was legal to buy and sell marijuana in Oregon for recreational purposes.  But our leaders have done everything they can to make sure this scourge does not reach us, especially our children.

The first problem is that they are about 50 years late.  When I was in high school in Hermiston in the late 1960s, kids were smoking dope.  The second problem is that while they think they are protecting the people they represent, the opposite is actually true.  Pot is out there, they just want to keep it something that's sold by the more unsavory members of our society rather than by people who are subject to state licensing rules and regulations.

Finally, they are wasting taxpayer money.  They certainly wasted the money of this taxpayer by forcing him to go to Ellensburg, Wash,.  to buy my monthly supply rather than give me the opportunity to shop locally.  More importantly, they are missing out on the tax revenue legal marijuana sales would generate.

While on my road trip I saw many people purchasing cigarettes and beer with no problem.  The hypocrisy of how we treat alcohol, tobacco and marijuana is staggering.

I'm begging for anyone out there who disagrees with me to weigh in.  I haven't even scratched the surface of all the things that are wrong with this 21st century attempt at Prohibition.

Patrick J.  Delaney

Hermiston