MEDICAL MARIJUANA IN BEAUMONT?

To the editor,

What in the Sam Hill is going on in our fair town?

When we moved to Beaumont nearly 10 years ago, it was pitched to us as
a combination of Bedford Falls and Mayberry - a growing city with
home-town values, a quiet, safe place to raise the kids or grow older
gracefully, a place with little if any of the unsavoriness associated
with neighboring counties.

Maybe I'm nuts, but I can't see exactly how the presence of a medical
marijuana clinic in the middle of the downtown district enhances our
image. ("Council ready to OK medical marijuana co-op?" Record Gazette,
July 16.)

Frankly, it's been years since I believed that most "escort services"
are anything other than a pseudonym for prostitution. And, unless and
until I can get a joint at my local pharmacy, I'll retain my
skepticism regarding "medical" marijuana clinics housed in unlabelled
storefronts.

I'm sure the $365,000-per-year "franchise fee" the clinic is paying
will greatly enrich the city coffers and, Lord knows, I'm not opposed
to new revenues, given these uncertain economic times. And it's nice
to know some of that revenue (according to the article) will be going
to provide additional policing at the clinic. Still, I'm puzzled: if
the clinic is such a well-run, reputable place, filled with clerks in
white coats (just like real pharmacists!), why should extra policing
even be necessary?

I've seen the folks lined up outside of the clinic. While I don't
doubt that some of them have legitimate health issues, a lot of them
seem unusually hale and hearty to me.

It's ironic - I can't shop at a book store or see a movie in this
town, but I can easily acquire a drug, even though to do so is against
federal law.

Is this really what the citizens of Beaumont want? Is this really
contributing to the image we hope to create here? Is the money really
that important to this town?

I really don't think so.

Lynn Chance,

Beaumont