MEDI-POT A 'VALUABLE SERVICE'

Re "No action taken on medi-pot ordinance" (Newslines, by Melissa
Daugherty, Nov. 18):

I've just gotten back from another frustrating Chico City Council
meeting concerning the proposed cannabis ordinance, and I just wanna
scream. Deeply rooted fear, prejudice and misinformation once again
are preventing intelligent legislation.

What's most frustrating for me, as a dispensary operator who has, just
like the other dispensary owners in this town, always bent over
backward to comply with state attorney general guidelines, is law
enforcement's stubborn fixation on their claim that we are nothing
more than drug dealers.

I would like to remind them that we did once have laws prohibiting the
sale of alcohol, but of course they were repealed and the possession
and consumption of that medicinal liquid was allowed. Why does this
situation with regard to medicinal cannabis have to be any different?
As a qualified patient I am allowed to grow it, to harvest and process
it, to transport it and possess it, and of course I can ingest it.

As a dispensary operator it is my job, my duty, to provide a clean and
safe pharmaceutical-grade product to those patients who cannot grow.
How in the world are we supposed to do that if we cannot employ
standard business practices?

I would like, in the interests of education, to invite anyone who
sincerely seeks enlightenment on this subject to visit our
establishment. I am confident you will then understand what a valuable
service we provide to this community.

Robert Galia

Chico