8-Opinion
8 The News-Press
January 9, 2014
opinions / yours and ours
Recreational rollout brings uncertainty Green Wednesday rung in and checked out, and various news reports recounted a rough estimate of $1 million taken in at local marijuana shops. The rollout of recreational marijuana on Jan. 1 was accurately described as mellow. Those who were happy to purchase legally at long last had no resemblance to revved up sports fans celebrating a championship. Instead they had satisfied grins and walked calmly. While many locals have poo-pooed the idea that Colorado will become the country’s Amsterdam, we cringed when national news reports suddenly seemed to entertain the perspective. That is not how we see Colorado. We know there is much work to be done and much to iron out with recreational marijuana. In our circles, many of those who are not thrilled with the passage of Amendment
our view 64, have conceded they are pleased law enforcement will not spend as much time with minor marijuana violations any longer. But it’s a consolation in a mix of concerns. Those who support the passage say they are relieved to finally have the legal right to do something that is not that harmful and does have some medicinal benefits. They say it’s the American way of individual freedom to have the choice, and point out that the taxes collected will further benefit the state. While there are countless legal and procedural wrinkles to iron out, we urge a focus on health and safety as a high priority.
letters to the editor obama finally takes a stand
Our president has, at last, finally stood up for what he really supports. We’re all curious what it could be. Maybe it’s decreasing unemployment, as he is always talking about jobs. No, that’s not it, as he has done nothing to alleviate the 41 percent unemployment of black youth. Perhaps it’s health care, as he is always saying how good Obamacare is. No, that can’t be it because millions of people have lost their health insurance and the Obama regime refuses to let them keep their old policies permanently. Aha, it must be education, right. Obama’s big on education. Wrong again. The Huffington Post reports that Obama has turned loose Attorney General Eric Holder to shut down the Louisiana school voucher program that helped many disadvantaged black students get a good education. The Louisiana Black Alliance For Education Options is fighting to help these children in distress. So if Obama isn’t really interested in decreasing unemployment, good health insurance, or education, what is his passion? Incredibly, it’s Iran. Obama has stoutly supported Iran by threatening to veto a bipartisan Senate bill that would use sanctions to curtail Iran’s building of a nuclear bomb. When you want to veto your own party, you are really passionate about your stand. No matter that all our allies in the Mideast are against this, so much so that Saudi Arabia is looking at buying nukes from Pakistan and partnering with Israel. Any thinking person has to wonder why Obama wants to coddle Iran, yet ignores black unemployment, good current health coverage, and education for under privileged children. Maybe that’s the problem. Those that voted for Obama weren’t thinking. Charles Newton Highlands Ranch
illegal behavior needs accountability
I just cut a Box Top for Education out of a cereal box to earn a few cents for my children’s school. It is mid-year, so I expect to get a second request for school supplies soon, too. Meanwhile, the district office continues to waste money on advancing their political agenda, while breaking the law in the process. The Douglas County School District has just been found guilty of violating the Fair Campaign Practices Act by hiring a consultant to write a favorable report about the district, then disseminating it to 85,000 people as if it was an independently written report, thereby influencing voters. Not only was that illegal, but it cost taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars that should be spent in our classrooms. The district paid for the writing of the report, then paid outside legal counsel to defend their illegal act. Now they are promising to appeal, which will cost thousands more in legal fees, in addition to the hours spent by district personnel obtaining the report and defending their actions. I am disgusted that our school district would stoop to dishonest behavior to win an election and waste taxpayer dollars in the process, instead of concentrating on educating our children and providing them the
tools they need to learn. Responsibility, honesty, and respect are some of the character traits my children’s school strives to instill in its students. I would expect to see those traits in the people in charge of the schools. All district officials who were involved in this deceit should lose their jobs. As taxpayers, they work for us and need to be held accountable. Kathleen Boyer Highlands Ranch
to unite requires action
The day after the election the newly elected school board members promised they would try to reunite our community. Unfortunately, their actions thus far prove otherwise. Tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars have now been spent on legal fees to defend the school board’s misuse of taxpayer dollars in the November campaign. All of this money should have gone to classrooms. The school board has vowed to appeal this decision — which will cost more taxpayer dollars. If the school board truly wanted to unite us as a community, they would stop squandering our money on lawyers, campaigns, outside interests, or anything else that does not directly help the students in our community and put that money back where it belongs: In the classroom. If the school board truly wanted to unite us as a community, they would immediately stop any further legal action and instead listen to parents and their concerns, and then try to alleviate them in meaningful ways. In addition, if the school board truly wanted to unite us as a community, they would not hold so much of their meetings in private council. If the school board truly wanted to unite us as a community, they would focus on the children in our community, not on personal political agendas. Unfortunately, the new school board has done none of that. They say they want to unite us. I say: Prove it. Christina Marriott Highlands Ranch
if you don’t have something nice to say
Re: Michael Norton’s Jan. 2 column Mr. Norton, One of the phrases in your column, “If you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all” brought back a memory from a stand-up comedian who appeared on the Ed Sullivan show back in the early 1960s. Her name was Moms Mabley. She was talking about a nasty uncle who had recently passed away. She was commenting on how he was not a very nice person and then she suddenly stopped and said, “You know what they say. If you can’t say something good about a person, then you shouldn’t say anything at all. Well, he’s dead…good.” I have no idea why I remember that. Good article on flattery, Michael. Michael H. Kennedy Centennial
Now that marijuana has entered the realm of legal drugs, we look forward to more and more detailed research to outline the pros and cons of marijuana use. Our friend Joe Citizen can break it down to say that marijuana is more or less harmful than tobacco and alcohol — an exercise with questionable value. Marijuana categorically falls in the potentially harmful column. The bottom lines are that smoking is smoking, and people who smoke marijuana draw the smoke deeply into their lungs. Moreover, marijuana affects driving ability. And to say it plain, all three choices can bring great harm to teens in the throes of brain development and finding their way in the world. As surely as secondhand smoke will be more prevalent, it follows that with marijuana, with its new legal status, will often more easily fall into the hands of the young teens.
So we ask that smokers smoke smart, all adults walk straight lines, and parents take further steps by talking and educating their children. A drug is a drug, so children should be encouraged to keep their “just say no” mindsets. We are concerned. How will Colorado fare? Will this recreational diversion be a drag on the state’s reputation in clean energy and quest to improve its education system? Will the state strike the right balance? Will we work well with our neighboring states? It will take a while for the best research to be distilled and crafted into spiffy, pithy messages along the lines of no smoking warnings we have experienced through the years. Messages that make the sobering dangers clear — just as the warnings about tobacco have done — is a wide-open public service opportunity.
Huh? Just turn down that bass The car next to you at the red light is throbbing with bass. What do you do? Do you throb with bass too? Not me. I don’t want to wind up like Pete Townsend and have to say “Huh?” for the rest of my life. There’s really not much you can do. You risk a lot if your give him the finger or even glare. Chances are it’s someone under 21 whose insurance rates have been climbing after a series of motoring incidents. The five and a half years he spent in high school were far out. And mom and dad never said a word to him about civility. Our highways are very democratic. You have as much right to them if you are a dolt as you do if you are on your way to give a lecture to a graduate seminar at DU. You may be the pick of the pack at home or at work, but in between, on the streets, you are just another motorist. We already have a lane for high occupancy vehicles. (Which, by the way, means two. Does that sound like high occupancy to you?) I think it would be wonderful if we could further distinguish motoring lanes. For example: a high-IQ occupancy lane. How about a lane for anyone who doesn’t wear his pants lower than his underwear? A lane just for UCLA alumni would be fine with me. A lane for anyone who doesn’t talk with their hands.
THE NEWS-PRESS
A lane for anyone who doesn’t pull their soup. A lane for anyone who knows that a medium-sized cumulus cloud weighs about the same as 80 elephants. The dog and I are sitting there at the light today, next to AC/DC. I wondered if he knows that Angus Young is a big Louis Armstrong fan. Probably not. It’s rarely a girl. It’s never someone my age. Unless they throbbed the bass when they were much younger, and maybe now they do have to crank it too. A Zen Buddhist friend of mine would say, “Sometimes the best thing to do is nothing.” I try to keep that in mind, especially when AC/DC turns into Aerosmith. I wonder if he knows that Joe Perry manufactures condiments. Probably not. It might make a difference if the music were any good, but it never is. It’s never Django Reinhart. It’s never Miles Davis. It’s never Chopin. It’s always Motorhead. Smith continues on Page 9
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