Is Cavanagh afraid of information?
Dear Editor: First Commissioner Sean Cavanagh said he wanted notification from the controller’s office on potential problems. Now when he gets memos, he doesn’t like this either.
I know that Mr. Cavanagh despises anything with the last name Roberts. You don’t think this is anything but political with his brother losing to Roberts for the controller’s position?
As far as pledging to oust Mr. Roberts in the 2003 election, I thought the Cavanaghs tried that the last time with the challenge to the residence requirement.
It is the controller’s job to keep the commissioners abreast of possible problems.
Even if the $750,000 amount is wrong and the $200,000 quoted by Commissioner Vicites is closer, I have a question. Can Fayette County afford a $200,000 deficit?
Mr. Cavanagh, what is wrong with identifying potential problems and corrective actions? I guess if there is a problem we can always get another $11 million bond issue. So what if we make the residents worry about the payments.
The comedy channel is alive and well at the courthouse.
Paul Blatt
Connellsville
Smoking pot harmless habit?
Dear Editor:
I was absolutely appalled that the Herald-Standard would print such poorly referenced facts as were printed in the April 8 editorial entitled, “On smoking marijuana.”
The word of one psychology professor most certainly does not outweigh the research of both the American Medical Association and the New England Journal of Medicine, as well as all the other research done by many other countries who have already decriminalized marijuana, including Canada, England and Scotland.
Responsible marijuana use will not inhibit your ability to learn, make you quit your job or cause you to drop out of school. A myriad of brilliant minds have used marijuana responsibly and gone on to make great change in the world.
Physicist Albert Einstein used marijuana regularly at the time he discovered the theory of relativity. George Washington, who managed to take on the arduous task of creating and then leading a newly formed government, also used cannabis. These are just two names out of the many that have used marijuana and suffered no ill effects.
Also, marijuana is not addictive. It may become a habit, yet in no more severe a way than a habit of biting your nails.
There is no physical addiction associated with marijuana. The “facts” printed in your article were outright propaganda.
When so many credible sources have done research, which disagrees with this one Ottawan man, why do you not report the findings of these other studies supported by multiple accredited research facilities.
Biased propaganda, such as found in your paper, has led to the demonization of a natural, completely benign plants and will continue to further the deterioration of our constitutional rights by perpetuating the prohibition of marijuana.
Not allowing Americans their right to exercise personal responsibility denies them the freedom to choose the way they medicate themselves, commune with God, or simply enrich their day. Is eradicating a weed really worth the loss of our hard-won liberties?
Ricki Garden
Uniontown
The writer is the chairman of the Fayette Area Decriminalization Effort.