POT ADVOCATES SHOW DANGEROUS LACK OF CONCERN

I am the one who spoke on behalf of Desert Ballet Center at the Town
Council meeting Thursday night regarding their dissatisfaction f the
medical marijuana facility located next to a business serving our
community children for over 20 years.

I was booed for my speaking. Now, others probably would have
crumbled at this (after all, I am 42 years old and was a public
speaker in college), but one thing I don't do is give in when I
fight a battle. What the booers did, their act of disrespect for
others, is why they should not be allowed anywhere near a business
with children involved. If they would publicly try to humiliate a
speaker of our community as well as show a blatant disrespect to our
Town Council rules, why would any of the medical marijuana users
show common courtesy while driving in a parking lot where young
children are readily coming and going for afternoon activities?
They decided to "hoop and holler" as though they were attending a
backyard concert. They drive through our parking lot with that same
careless enthusiasm on their way to see their vendor for their
so-called "herbal cure."

The children of this community deserve respect as does a business
serving our community for so many years.

(The medical marijuana business) specifically chose its location due
to its privacy, but failed to consider our youth at risk.

They claim our children are more at risk at Wal-Mart or while doing
karate than they are less than three feet from a medical marijuana
office, yet they also say they have two security doors needed to
enter their facility.

They claim our community needs their tax revenues and if crime
sparks, we should just add another officer to the force, but they
never consider those affected by the crime brought in. The officers
can only solve a crime committed, they cannot guarantee it won't happen.

I put back to them the words so many of them reiterated: "What if it
was your family member?" What if your child was at risk next door?
Ah, but then again, none of them take time away from their pain and
suffering to view the rest of us just trying to raise our kids
safely in a small-town community.

What they failed to hear in my speech is I am not against them per
say. I am against their chosen location.

As stated earlier, I will fight this battle even if it is alone. I
plan to keep speaking, so by all means keep booing. After all, I can
practice so I sound better when I speak, but a heckler always sounds the same.