Letters for August 6, 2015

The Green Rush

Re “Liberals should learn from pot regulation” (Let Freedom Ring, July 30):

Whether one supports or opposes medical marijuana establishments in Washoe County, everyone can agree on one issue. The current site dispensary selection procedure is totally devoid of any semblance of promised transparency. Our politicians certainly waxed poetic last November regarding the need for transparency and integrity in government. Would it surprise you to know that this legislation was specifically written to keep secret the identity of the dispensary owners? Tradespeople were required to sign non-disclosure agreements! Prominent dispensary owners only went public to help with public relations damage control when rumors started circulating. This is not governmental transparency in action.

The law was supposedly passed to assist patients suffering from life-threatening ailments. However, one can receive a medical marijuana card for practically any “ailment,” however trivial. Since MMEs will only succeed when a “critical mass” of cardholders to “feed” the increasing number of dispensaries is obtained, the true game is not health care, but money. The fact that it is a cash-only business doesn’t inspire confidence in the integrity of the process. While dispensaries and grow facilities are now the law of the land, is it asking too much that they not be placed in any residential neighborhood?

Thomas Wright

Reno

Ask and tell

What about the military men and women who are gay and want to find a place to belong? How do you deal with those men and women who wore a uniform but need a social standing to belong to? I am one of them! I am disabled but was looking for a military group to belong to and there was nothing I could find in Reno. I was told to start a group, but being disabled does not allow me the opportunity. So sad to see our military was not included or anyone in uniform including gay/lesbian police officers, fire fighters and others. I know they are out there but what is being done?

J. Sonny Cencora

Reno

Failed failure

Are you planning to cover the DMV dropping the dash pass text system in Reno? They say it’s being dropped because people aren’t showing up and technicians are left waiting. Unfortunately, I’ve had to go to the DMV five times in the last six months and I’ve used dash pass every time. What’s shady is that even though I’ve gone to every appointment, I never get checked in. I’ll be sitting at a station being helped and receive a text saying that I never showed up and lost my spot in line. (I have saved texts.) I’ve asked technicians why I’m getting the text, and they have told me it’s because they didn’t check me in. Is that what they are looking at as far as absenteeism rates? Are they cooking the books? It doesn’t really add up. Should I send this info to anyone else too?

Matt Quinn

Reno

Dissonance

Regarding the fact that there are still three countries that did not sign the document forcing Non-Proliferation of Nuclear weapons: India, Pakistan and North Korea. Actually, I can see how the eradication of not giving up their nuclear weaponry could be reversed:

1) As for India, just threaten them with sending some of Reno’s worst idiots that do graffiti to the local businesses.

2) As for North Korea, just use the threat of not allowing Dennis Rodman to mentor their basketball star wannabes anymore.

3) As for Pakistan, just have the Head of our CIA drone attacks focus on several more neighborhoods in their country.

Jeanne Jackson

Reno

Hate runs this country

Re “Government is the new plantation owner” (Let Freedom Ring, July 23):

In one sentence, school vouchers subsidized by public funds is a good thing, which everyone knows is just veiled segregation. In the next, “taxation is slavery” (and of course, everyone knows that the only criminals during the Civil War were the Union soldiers, and who is paying 50 percent in taxes?) Which is it? Once again, Mr. Trainor has shown his propensity for the hate and selfishness that is driving this country to ruin.

Mark Mcphail

Reno

To dust trap

I’m one of those angry old white men you always hear about, but I try not to get political on a local level. Disenfranchised nationally, disenfranchised locally. You know what I mean. But I couldn’t resist congratulating publicly those public servants responsible for the condition of Virginia Lake. It now easily resembles some of the most sacred “tanks” I’ve visited in South India. I mean … the algae green is a stunning color. You can watch the ducks make trails when they paddle through it. Beautiful. And the smell? I only wish it were 105 degrees so more could appreciate it. I get it. We’re in a desert. There’s a drought. Why waste money and water on a signature intra-city park? After all, who does it serve? Those mostly Hispanic families that make up some of 30,000 living in the zip code around it? The elderly who sit by it and eat their lunch? The health conscious scuttling around it? And my personal favorite, the Creationists with their helpful information. Yeah. Congratulations are in order. From swamp to lake to scum pond to dry hole. Come see Virginia Lake before it’s gone. I’m just saying.

Bix Santana

Reno

Self-serving politicians

Re “Liberals should learn from pot regulation” (Let Freedom Ring, July 30):

While I agree with Brendan Trainor’s premise that government can screw-up policy implementation, I choose to not agree that all government participation in economic strategic planning is bad. Yes, Nevada has had numerous missteps rolling out the medical marijuana dispensaries, but does that really mean that they can do nothing well? What is the alternative to some degree of government oversight, a free-for-all? Government’s role is to establish the rules of the game so people and the environment are not ruined by endless greed. Do they get too heavy-handed on occasion? Of course.

But do you really want lead in your paint and air, mercury in your drinking water, or BP dumping millions of gallons to toxic sludge in our front yard? I don’t think so. I do not trust business or the marketplace to always make the best long-term choices. That is what government should do. A key issue is the people in government often forget the people they impact. The long delays in opening the medical marijuana dispensaries were inexcusable and resulted in many people suffering pain longer than was necessary. State officials claim it took over two years to implement the law because they wanted to get it right. Well, they did not get it right (see Clark County) because they were more focused on legal technicalities and dollar considerations than the patients. Greater responsiveness to the voters needs would have sped things up.

Victor Morin

Reno