Wearing Us Down

The "medical" marijuana proponents are wearing us down.  Our local city government is reporting that the medical marijuana dispute has been a major expenditure over the past year.  Most of the people in our little bedroom community want nothing to do with "medical" marijuana and don't want "cooperatives" or head shops, as they used to be called, in our city.  However, the very vocal minority, many of whom stand to make a profit on the sales of marijuana, are wearing us down.  By costing the city money in repeated lawsuits, which have thus far failed, and constant barrages of requests to open store fronts for the sale and use of marijuana, they can effectively wear down the opposition to the point where it's no longer feasible to fight it.  So, eventually our city (and others) will have to give in and get on with it.  What do we get once the "medical" marijuana store fronts open?  We get armed guards and bars on the windows.  We're told by the proponents that by beefing up security, they are keeping us safe.  Safe from what?  From those who want the drugs.  There will be break ins, burglaries, thefts, etc.  Several local cities including Murrieta have been successful in their efforts to keep them out.  In Lake Elsinore, one local shop owner was recently arrested for illegal sales after closing his shop.  On the same street, new outlets have sprung up one right after the other. It seems to be getting out of hand.  They proliferate and the street becomes a haven for illicit activity.

A year or so ago, I had to fight to keep a medical marijuana "clinic" from opening up next to my business. How appropriate is it to put a medical marijuana collective in a complex which houses a child psychologist, an optometrist, a dentist, and an adoption service?  That seems a little careless to me.  Mind boggling. We were told that during the day there would be an armed guard.  Armed.  That means when the bullets start flying, they are going to come right through the walls and into my office.  My son home schools here.  My staff is here.  Occasionally clients come in with their babies.  On top of that, we were told that there would be bars on their windows to keep people from breaking in.  They owners claimed it would be a quiet, safe business.  Right.  Why do you need bars on the windows?  Pray tell, what will happen when they can't get into your business to get the drugs and money you have stashed there?  They will break into MY business and go through the wall.  Thanks again.

In Los Angeles, there have been a number of deaths related to armed robberies at medical marijuana outlets.  In one week, three people were killed over the drugs.  L.A. has started trying to reduce the number of facilities allowed, due to the number of incidents and crime they generate.  In one instance, undercover officers kept one facility under surveillance and found that people who were not medical patients were buying pot and going down the street to the local park and selling it to the kids.  Is this really what we want in our community?  Don't we have enough to deal with?  Why do you think some people are fighting so hard to get them opened?  Greed.  Lots of money to be made there.  I wonder if they pay their fair share of taxes?  My guess is no.

I do not dispute that marijuana may be beneficial to patients who don't seem to get relief any other way.  However, if that's the case, dispense it out of the pharmacy like every other legitimate drug and don't let wayward souls go out and market it to make a profit.  We don't need to make a profit on our sick.  Those who want to should be discouraged from doing so.  Aside from that, store fronts are an ideal front for those who want to buy and sell pot openly.  Don't argue that the people with prescriptions are all sick, because they aren't.  If you go to the cooperatives' websites, you can find a list of doctors who will give you the Rx just for showing up and paying the fee.  That's where the argument for sick people ends for me.  Unfortunately, the bad guys are looking for a way to sell their dope and they don't care about those who are really and truly sick.  I'm not willing to sell my community down the river for the sake of a few people who could get their medicine in a pharmacy like everyone else.  If they could do that, there wouldn't be a need for pot outlets.  Let's make THAT the law. 

We tell our children not to do drugs.  We try to set a good example.  Research has shown pot to be a "gateway" drug.  Not everyone who smokes pot goes on to do other drugs.  However, virtually everyone who goes on to do harder drugs has begun the process with marijuana.  How do you tell teens not to smoke pot if you say it's okay for people to buy it down the street?  It sends mixed messages.

I won't even get into the argument about people using pot and driving.  I've heard all the rebuttals to that about drunk drivers.  I don't want either of them out on the road.  I have personal experience with a drunk driver who injured and very nearly killed some of my family.  While my brother's neck and leg were broken and my sister in law was knocked unconscious and hit the steering wheel while pregnant with my nephew...the drunk driver walked away with his two front teeth knocked out.  He was so drunk, he wasn't even aware.  No, I don't want any impaired drivers on the road.  Another argument against medical marijuana collectives. 

They may wear us down and they may find a legal way to operate, but we all know it's a front for illegal activity.  It seems like the only people who have rights are the ones trying to skirt the laws.  If you are a law-abiding citizen who wants the children safe and the best for your community, you take a back seat to those who feel that their rights are being violated by not being able to sell their pot openly and for a profit.
They are a vocal bunch.

Training

As a mother, I've learned that anything with the word "training" attached is something to be feared. First it's potty training (yuck!). There are always lovely accidents to clean up after. And then, just as you think raising kids isn't so tough, it's driver's training. The first will give you some gray hairs. The second will make you pull them out. I went through potty training three times. I can tell you that boys are infinitely harder than girls. When you're in the car and your little girl says, "Mommy, I want to potty"...you have time to find a clean place to pull into and assist her. With boys, it's a little more tricky. When your little boy says, "Mommy, I have to potty", it's generally followed in short order by "Oh no! I can't hold it!" or something similar followed by a soaking of the pants. Boys don't think about it until it's virtually too late. I always swore I wouldn't be a station wagon mom. The one good thing about minivans is that you can carry around a potty seat in the back and be ready at a moment's notice. Problem solved? Not quite. Getting them to the point of wanting to use the potty is another matter. We tried many things. I think for the boys the most successful effort came with food coloring. Boys are obsessed with their own urine. Yes, it's true. I'm not sure they outgrow that part, but that's for another day. With that in mind, if you drop one drop of food coloring in the "hat" of the potty seat, you can cheerfully say, "Hey, let's see what color your pee pee is today!" and it works for a while. You have to get creative and mix colors to keep it interesting, but the boys get quite proud when their pee is blue! Girls may require a little more ingenuity. Or not. I was all set up for the stickers and rewards when she asked out of the blue one day when we were dropping her brother off at school, "When do I get to go to school"? I replied, when you are age 3 and potty trained. "Hmmm", she said. Later that day she asked for her "big girl panties" and that was it. There wasn't another accident or problem. She just made up her mind to do it. She then stated that she was "ready to go to school". How do you explain to a child just over age 2 that age 3 is a year away? Who knew she could potty train in a day? If driver's training was as easy....