The five reasons why I am likely to vote “NO” on QUESTION 4:
I have friends in Washington state and relatives in Colorado. When we talk, the issue of legalized marijuana always comes up. At first, the biggest problem seemed to be that people who smoked marijuana could not seem to drive faster than 25 miles per hour. But over time, other issues cropped up.
First there is the issue of the electricity used by legal growing operations. With huge sunlamps glowing 24/7, as well as heaters, air-conditioners and carbon dioxide emitters, local electricity companies have had to build new substations to supply these operations. We just had a brush with the devil over a certain gas pipeline project. And all we need are huge greenhouse projects to reverse all the energy saving efforts of the last decade. Legalizing marijuana may mean hello gas pipeline.
We may become the Colombia of the Northeast. These vast greenhouses are not run by mom and pop, but by gangsters from out of state who will traffic the crop to the rest of New England and New York. Think about that. How is that going to end?
These growing operations truly stink. Whole neighborhoods are smelling the odor of marijuana plants, with no end in sight. And they are complaining, but what can be done when law abiding citizens go up against gangsters with tons of cash?
Pot shops truly spring up on every corner, and news papers have ads for them on nearly every page. It is like an insanity has taken over, with the seemingly endless pursuit of higher and higher THC levels in the buds. Are we mature enough to handle this?
The sad but true victim of this “growth” is that the Medical Marijuana clinics close down because people get their advice from shop owners. True medical understanding of its benefits is abandoned. Marijuana is truly a valuable drug for those who truly need it. Legalizing pot may only blow smoke in all our faces.
John Walter
Shutesbury