WITHOUT DISPENSARIES, THOSE WHO NEED MEDICAL MARIJUANA TURN TO THUGS

I do not know whether to be flattered or appalled by the inclusion of
my name in your poorly thought-out editorial, "Ban On illegal
marijuana providers must be upheld," Dec. 22. I am just one foot
solder for the millions of Californians who believe this beneficial
herb that has been used so safely and effectively during the past
5,000 years should once again be available.

Riverside County government may have the legal authority to enact a
medical marijuana distribution ban, but it certainly has no moral
authority. Palm Springs is the only municipality in the Inland Empire
with the moral authority to go after illegal medical marijuana
outlets as they are the only city to have created an orderly process
for patients to access medicinal marijuana.

Riverside County and every other city have chosen to deny any
reasonable access to patients. It is totally hypocritical of The
Desert Sun to applaud these bans when you have never called them to
task for failing to follow Palm Springs' lead and ensure patient
access by enacting a program for licensing, regulating and taxing
medical marijuana distribution systems.

It is the height of folly to ban any and all distribution systems as
most patients, legally entitled to utilize marijuana, will have no
choice but to get their marijuana the old-fashioned way: They will
buy it from criminals.

I am sure the Mexican Mafia, the largest distributor of illicit
marijuana in California, is grateful for the bans enacted by our
elected officials that you so ignorantly applaud. They will now make
significantly more money and will have added incentive to continue
raping our national forests in order to grow the marijuana formerly
provided by essentially mom-and-pop medical marijuana collectives.

Rather than enlighten your readership with facts, your editorial
continues to dangle the red herring that the medical use of marijuana
is illegal under federal law. If you did a little research you would
have found that the U.S. Supreme Court's inaction on two cases on the
illegality of state-sanctioned medical marijuana programs, whose
losses were appealed by city governments, make it abundantly clear
that states can allow for the use of medicinal marijuana even if it
is illegal under federal law.

A little more research on your part would have undermined the lies
supporting the increased crime mantra. There is not one study that
shows an increase in crime, but there are several showing the
opposite, including one issued by the Denver Police Department in
2010 that documents a significant decrease in crime in areas around
dispensaries as compared to areas in which dispensaries were not located.

Although your failure to praise Palm Springs for doing the right
thing and condemn everyone else is a disgrace, your greatest failure
is to see the man behind the curtain manipulating our elected
officials and the media. Law enforcement is so contorted over losing
their taxpayer-funded $20 billion a year marijuana prohibition
full-employment program, that for the past 15 years they have
studiously worked to overturn Proposition 215 and to thwart any
program that would allow for a licensed and regulated medical
marijuana distribution system.

I guess a dozen medical marijuana collectives operating illegally to
provide patients with their medicine is enough to provoke an outraged
response from The Desert Sun, but cops working on the taxpayer's dime
to overturn a voter-approved initiative does not meet your required
level of outrage.