POT DISPENSARIES

Recent news reports have focused attention on the number of medical
marijuana dispensaries. Use for other than medical purposes is what
dominates the market. Marijuana is an addicting drug. The U.S.
government ruled marijuana illegal due to its permanent dilatory
effect on mind and body. Pot shops are not interested in the need for
marijuana for medical purposes but for the marketing gain from the
volume of recreational users. Pot shops give no thought relative to
the drug's degenerative effect on our society and the cost to the
taxpayers for providing care and treatment for the addicts that most
users become. As the availability of the drug becomes more common, use
will continue to rise in the hedonistic segment of our society,
leading to the degeneration of our communities which, in the past, set
an image for the world to emulate.

Richard Green, Thousand Oaks

(The writer retired as a captain in the Los Angeles Police Department
and was chief of the Los Angeles Unified School District Police
Department. -- Editor)