NIP POT CLUBS IN THE BUD

The Temecula City Council recently voted to temporarily ban the operation
of marijuana dispensaries within the city. A San Francisco Bay area group,
Compassionate Caregivers, had inquired about opening up shop here in
Temecula for issuing "medicinal" marijuana to medical patients under
Proposition 215.

Fortunately for Temecula, our sober City Council saw through the smoke and
voted to nip this goofy idea in the bud. The city council will consider
making this ban permanent in the near future.

Despite the passage of Proposition 215 in 1996, the city should oppose
these cannabis "clubs" because the sale and possession of marijuana remains
illegal at the federal level. While many outsiders may deride our Golden
State as the People's Republic of California, we still remain part of the
federal republic and subject to the laws of our nation.

Temecula receives much federal support, including federal Homeland Security
funding for our Temecula Citizens Corps and the presence of the U.S. Border
Patrol. For our city to sanction businesses that dispense illegal and
unproven drugs against federal law would be hypocritical at the least.

The notion behind Prop. 215 is a risky one. Financed by billionaire
left-wing philanthropist George Soros, the proposition allows for the use
of marijuana by seriously ill patients. Of course, the definition of
"seriously ill" is in the eye of the beholder, or any agenda-driven medical
caregiver.

Local pot-smokers Martin and LaVonne Victor found themselves in legal
trouble for cultivating their own dope to "treat" headaches and backaches
after having it prescribed by a doctor. She has been diagnosed with
multiple sclerosis and he with optical edema. But consider this: Who
doesn't wake up with an occasional backache or experience headaches caused
from busy and stressful lives?

While Timothy Leary was a doctor of sorts, turning on, tuning in and
dropping out is hardly a prescription for good health.

In fact, marijuana use is dangerous to your health. A few years ago, a
study published in the Journal of Immunology by UCLA researchers indicated
that smoking marijuana has greater cancer risks than smoking tobacco.
Marijuana is higher in tar and has over 400 known carcinogens.

You don't need a medical degree to figure out that these carcinogens do
nothing to improve the health of cancer patients.

There are those who will say that Temecula needs to be more progressive and
compassionate by implementing such policies. They will cite other cities
such as San Francisco as their vision for Temecula.

Don't fall for this smokescreen. San Francisco promotes other
"compassionate" social policies like generous welfare to homeless bums. The
homeless problem in San Francisco has gotten so bad that public urination
and defecation is now considered a human right. The streets of San
Francisco resemble open cesspools.

Even public nudity has been decriminalized. The San Francisco district
attorney recently declined to prosecute a yoga enthusiast for exercising in
tourist areas while naked.

Such "compassionate" cities are not the models that Temecula should try to
emulate. Many Temecula residents moved here to escape such nonsense.

The values of billionaire George Soros have no place in our community.