Highway drive not what it once was
I agree with Mr. Saunders about the highway graffiti. The drive from the airport to the north end is at best a drab uneventful drive. Years ago on the major highways, the burma shave signs were a welcome sight to the drive. If Duane Sherman wants to save the planet, stay at home and pull weeds in your backyard.
Jim Koubele
Kailua-Kona
Real motivation for marijuana isn’t medicine
J. Appleton’s attempt to discredit me and North Kohala Community Association is based on his lack of knowledge on the marijuana issue and his ignorance on the pulse of our community.
We are asking why the two dispensary licenses for this island and eight throughout the state?
We have less than 14,000 medical marijuana cardholders in Hawaii, 5,550 on the Big Isle. Each patient can have seven plants. If they can’t grow their own, others can grow the plants for them. Of the 5,500, only 12 Big Isle patients cannot grow their own. So to “assist” these 12 people, four Big Isle reps helped introduce the bill: Cindy Evans, Mark Nakashima, Richard Creagan and Joy San Buenaventura.
Ask them what their real intentions are. Colorado, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska all started off with medical marijuana, then legalized recreational use. The eight medical marijuana dispensary owners in Hawaii will spend at least 3 million each to grow 48,000 plants and set up their manufacturing sites and retail stores. Can they make money off 14,000 patients who were growing their own plants for free? We all know where this is heading and it’s not about medicine.
We’ve researched this issue, contacted politicians and experts in varied fields and had several meetings to discuss the new marijuana law. Police Chief Harry Kubojiri stated that big businesses are financing dispensary applicants in the state. He distributed Colorado’s certified (not Internet propaganda) research on the social impact of marijuana legalization in Colorado. Money for the dispensary license owner, but the county gets nothing. That’s why Ohio voted “No” to marijuana, even medical marijuana. So who pays for the increased social services and police force? Us, the taxpayers. That’s one of the problems Colorado faces.
Our state reps denied us the right to vote on issues that affect our community, our home, our children, our grandchildren and their future. What else are these Reps going to do behind our backs?
Jeffrey K. Coakley
Kohala
