Letters for December 29, 2011
End pot prohibition
Re “Is Obama in control?” (Editorial, Dec. 22):
When the last number of presidents have used cannabis (marijuana) recreationally, there should be no question cannabis prohibition should automatically be terminated, especially since roughly 70 percent of Americans support it. Roughly 50 percent of Americans support—and that number is increasing—legalizing and regulating cannabis because it is one of America’s worst policy failures in history. Cannabis prohibition is perpetuated exactly because President Obama is in control. If citizens were in control, cannabis prohibition, persecution, discrimination and extermination would end immediately.
Ending cannabis prohibition is one of the most important issues of our time.
Stan White
Dillon, Colo.
Care about apathy
Re “Shout it out loud” (Apply liberally, Dec. 22):
Nevada tops bad lists and bottoms good lists. If there is outrage anywhere in the United States, it should be here. So what’s up with the apathy? It’s not apathy; it’s poverty. Poverty: pocketbook, relationships, opportunity, hope, love, soul. We are tired from/of fraud, deceit, injustice, and most of all, being ignored. However, when we all get our muchness back—look out!
Nancy Price
Sparks
Help our son
Like in J.K. Metzker’s tragedy, our son was a victim of a hit-and-run driver. J.K. was well known. Our son, Brian, is not. The Reno Police found J.K.’s suspected hit-and-run driver within 24 hours. The Reno Police have not found Brian’s hit-and-run driver after almost two months. Brian, traveling at about 25 mph on his motorcycle at dusk on Oct. 16, was hit almost head-on by a car traveling in our son’s lane of traffic in a complicated construction zone off Robb Drive. Witnesses said that the car passed them at the beginning of the zone traveling at an estimated 50 mph. Brian was lucky not to have died, luckier than J.K. Since then, Brian has mostly been in Renown Hospital enduring six surgeries to splice together three segmented breaks of his femur, amputate his big toe, and fight a serious infection, resulting in a medical bill of tens of thousands of dollars.
His damaged motorcycle has been impounded by police as evidence in a crime. Brian was very recently employed part-time after several years of looking, has no medical insurance, and cannot perform his job because of his injuries. The driver and the car who struck Brian are still unidentified. A detective was assigned to Brian’s case immediately, but was shortly thereafter replaced by another detective. The only apparent suspect was a man living in California involved in a nearby Reno domestic violence call just minutes before Brian was hit. A pair of policemen who were dispatched to that call missed the suspect whom the girlfriend involved said took off in his car. The same policemen were diverted to our son’s accident and told me that man was a suspect. That person was only yards away from a ramp onto Interstate 80 West when Brian was struck. Our detective assures us his department is working through the suspect’s California hometown police to talk with him and/or find his car to inspect for damage but have been unsuccessful in doing either. Reno Police cannot tell us the suspect’s name, whether he was with the girlfriend at the same time and near the scene, whether he has auto damage consistent with the accident, has insurance on the car, and whether he could have been the driver.
They have also told us that pursuing investigation across state lines usually involves more crimes serious than this one. Now Brian’s case is suspended, not “active.” Something is not right! Perhaps the suspect is connected to someone well known. RPD seems to have dropped the ball. Reno Police, we expect you to pursue all crime investigation as if all victims are important, as we suspect do most citizens. Please, do more to help our son!
Sue and John Golish
Reno
Break the cycle
Every poll says people are fed up with Congress and the entire federal government. Instead of taking action that could make a difference, most people are falling prey to the distraction that is the presidential election. It is a circus purposely performed to keep you from paying attention to the election that could break the gridlock in Washington, D.C.
The president is one person with limited authority. The House of Representatives is 435 people who make the laws. It is so named because the Founding Fathers insisted on having representatives of the people. The problem today is that the candidates you choose from are picked by a party and backed by big money. I found a way to make a difference. Join me and thousands of others who are excited about the possibility of picking true citizen representatives to the House. Learn how at www.goooh.com.
Irving Welchons
Charlotte, N.C.
Pot’s safer to abuse
Re “Is Obama in control?” (Editorial, Dec. 22):
Obama could be in control of the marijuana problem by upholding the rule of law, the Constitution of the United States. The marijuana laws impinge upon fundamental rights, a justiciable controversy under Article III.
Criminalizing marijuana because marijuana has no medicinal use is unreasonable and unnecessary regulations of my fundamental rights to liberty, to property and to privacy. Marijuana and the private use of this property does not threaten the rights of others. Who have presidents been afraid of? National police?
Classifying marijuana as a controlled substance is arbitrary and violates due process. There are three criteria classifying drugs into five schedules: potential for abuse, medicinal use and safety of use. What determines medicinal use is safety of use. Marijuana is safe to use without medical supervision: www.ursm.us.
Michael J. Dee
Windham, Maine
Presidential payroll
Re “Is Obama in control?” (Editorial, Dec. 22):
In Ken Burns’ outstanding PBS documentary Prohibition, it was revealed that alcohol prohibition corrupted all levels of our government—all the way up to the Warren G. Harding White House. The alcohol cartels had hundreds of politicians on their payroll.
Is it unreasonable to suspect that the drug cartels of today are following in the footsteps of the alcohol cartels? It’s obvious that medical marijuana dispensaries were making a major dent in the income of the drug cartels.
Would a $10 million bribe motivate Obama to change his policy regarding medical marijuana? We will never know. But I certainly suspect so.
Kirk Muse
Mesa, Ariz.
It’s the GOP?
These Republicans running for or holding office today are simply, over and over, continually, repetitiously, spilling garbage from their mouths. They have become an overbearing, obstructive party of our government. It is because of their greed and manipulation of the system over the last several years that we are in a tailspin. Both economically and socially, they have taken the Republican Party to the extreme—far, far to the right, unbalancing our complete system. Some have used new technology for their greed and brought out some of the downsides of that technology, which can be harmful as well as helpful for many. Some have not used their heads at all. They give off a strong scent of being prejudiced, jealous of control. The United States of America is being scrambled by their desire for that power. The country has not been this divided since the Civil War. We definitely need a Trusted God to help us out of this mess they created.
Jack Kunce
Sparks