RECENT STORY ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA WAS CLEARLY BIASED

The Saturday article, "Couple fears results of county crackdown"
about medical marijuana was read aloud at our weekly youth council
meeting and thoroughly discussed. There was a unanimous vote to
compose a letter to the editor stating our questions and concerns
about the article.

There was an obvious bias that was clearly woven throughout the
article. The article never once touched the other side of the story,
the criminal and profiteering abuse of the Compassionate Use Act. We
are writing to express our concern about the lack of discussion of
the other side of this contentious issue.

Del Norte County has been allowing 99 plants per person, and if a
person gets a special doctor's note, they can have even more. For
most people solely using marijuana for medical use, 99 plants are
more than enough. Where does the extra marijuana go?

Being students, we all know where it ends up: in our schools, in the
hands of our peers. Among many students, this county is known for
easy access to marijuana. Having the 99-plant rule has been the
catalyst for opening a door for commercial marijuana growers and
thereby harming our community.

A question that has risen in many discussions with the public is,
"Why are you focusing so much on marijuana when meth is a worse
problem?" Well, the first answer to that is that we've never dropped
our concern about meth; secondly, marijuana is a "gateway drug." A
majority of people who use "worse drugs" admit to starting with marijuana.

That is why we raise the question about pot; that's where it often
starts. Why should we put the idea that using marijuana is OK in the
minds of our young people, setting the stage for a worse future for
generations to come?

Moreover, in the future we would like to see our local newspaper be
more responsible and address both sides of controversial issues such
as medical marijuana instead of the bias shown in the one that was
published Saturday.

Linda Taber

Michael Clark

Michael Dixon

Anna Marie Marques

Del Norte County Friday Night Live Youth Council