Pubdate: Thu, 24 Dec 2015
Source: Press Democrat, The (Santa Rosa, CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Press Democrat
Contact:  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/348
Author: Don Holden

THE GREAT WAVE

EDITOR: More than marijuana organizers or distributors should point 
out the great wave gathering above our Sonoma County.

Our front pages give friendly coverage to pot fairs and proposed 
regulations. But I'm surprised at the silence of the parents of teens 
caught in the habit, adults who suffered from pot to harder drugs and 
helpers administering to those caught in this potentially menacing wave.

The wave has built far higher than the voters' expectations when they 
voted in Proposition 215. Even government officials look to pot for 
future income. Let's not kid ourselves that all the pot grown in our 
local "barns" is aimed at relieving medical pain.

Beyond repeating the laudatory pot phrases from those who will gain 
from legalized pot, The Press Democrat should seek out the stories of 
those injured by the drug. Instead of simply stating the income and 
tax revenue from pot, I would like to see the damage and medical 
costs entailed in dealing with pot's negative impacts.

I don't know if this great wave will crash upon our land, settle 
calmly and justly or dissipate, but its force is something about 
which a larger segment of our community needs to provide its input.

DON HOLDEN

Santa Rosa
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom