MY PERSONAL OPINION

I've been reading Ron Orenstein's 95490 columns in which he offers his
views about marijuana, and I'm inspired to express my personal opinion.

My drug of choice is Chardonnay. You don't even want to see me on that
most sinister drug, caffeine.

Many people choose marijuana as their recreational drug. I know many
of these people in our community are hard workers, respected business
people, politically active community members, and their use of
marijuana is on par with many of their peers' use of alcohol.

There are those who abuse any substance. The abuse of alcohol and
other drugs are real problems, but I'm pretty sure they don't go away
with prohibition. When alcohol was illegal in this country, people
didn't stop producing or drinking it. They became criminals to do so.

We have the word "vintners" for a people engaged in the of making
wine. We don't call them liquid drug makers. We have romanticized the
process of making that locally prevalent drug. A drug, mind you, that
is not without its dangers. Perhaps if we had a romantic word, such
as marijauntners, for our local growers, they wouldn't seem so sinister.

I don't think changing the laws that allow the growing of medical
marijuana and the tolerance of recreational users will take care of
all the problems Ron talks about. The large volume growers didn't just
suddenly show up when Measure G came into being. From what I hear,
they've been around since before I moved to Willits 18 years ago. They
are not tolerated by law enforcement any more now than they were then.
Their activities are still illegal and this paper is filled with
articles about their arrests.

Willits police and the Mendocino County Sheriff's Department are
plenty busy. I seriously doubt they have the resources to start
arresting every currently legal medical grow (if they are made
illegal), every personal or mom-and-pop grow in the county. I think
maybe, just maybe, they have some tolerance for the recreational use
of marijuana and a true acceptance for its medical use.

I've heard arguments from those who believe any alcohol and other drug
use is evil. I have heard others who truly believe people shouldn't
eat meat. I can see that for them this works. I would not be pleased
if I had to give up my occasional glass of wine or my steak because of
beliefs that work for them but not for me.

I'd rather not read more of Ron's personal opinions about marijuana in
his 95490 column. I would love to read about the many interesting
"people, places and things" in this area that "make this a special
place to live."

I sure would find it refreshing to see a different one of the
"thousands of stories in our zip code" every week. Maybe they could be
stories about love, tolerance, kindness, understanding and connection
between different cultures. I witness these things all around me in
this town all the time, and I hope to read more about them in the future.

Janet Rayner

Willits