MARIJUANA IS NOT HARMLESS

The Yucca Valley Town Council has granted Yucca Valley as the sole
territory for a drug dealing monopoly to our local pot shop through
the guise of medicine. Not only will they have a monopoly, the
current pot shop will be allowed to expand its business at their new
location of 7054 Wamego Trail.

While the council noted a proliferation of such businesses would be
too much, allowing even one to operate can be harmful for our town
and its residents.

Having a pot shop in town now makes us a "pot friendly city."

We will be forced to endure voter registration rallies and concerts
(such as the ones scheduled in Riverside) for the "My Vote Counts" tours.

The demographics for Proposition 19 are 18- to 34-year-olds and
preferably soccer mom types.

For every one dollar we make on alcohol and tobacco taxation, we
spend almost 14 dollars on the damages caused by their use.

California has a dropout rate of 24 percent. Last year our local high
school graduation rate was almost 50 percent.

High school dropouts cost our taxpayers approximately $492,000 (per dropout).

Students who smoke marijuana have twice the odds at becoming a dropout.

Over 80 percent of prison inmates are high school dropouts.

Don't be fooled by their message; smoked marijuana is not harmless
because it's legal. If we claim that we need the tax revenues, then
let's legalize all criminal activity. Not only can we profit from it,
we could cut down crime and the need for police officers.

Lori L. Green

Yucca Valley