Medical cannabis dispensary should be allowed 

I am deeply concerned that a few bigoted demagogues want to seize control of the City of Morro Bay and prevent a medical cannabis dispensary from opening here. I spoke at the city council meeting on March 8 in support of the dispensary. Each city council member spoke in support of this dispensary at that meeting, except Carla Borchard, who declared war at the meeting of the Morro Bay Merchants association meeting two days later. Since then, Rick Grantham has decided to change his position, apparently because he thinks he will win more votes for his bid for Morro Bay Mayor by doing so. He is passing around a petition to deny Morro Bay patients access to medical cannabis.

 Carla Borchard, in an extremely unethical move, has made the Morro Bay Merchants Association her platform for publishing a letter, presuming to speak for all the merchants in Morro Bay, addressed to the city council (of which she is a member!) saying “we” don’t want that kind of business here. This is so unethical on so many levels for city council members to spearhead letters addressed to the very council they belong to; at the very least it’s a conflict of interest.

 This is the kind of thinking that will culminate in civic terrorism, where any business somebody disapproves of will not be allowed. My business could very well be next on the list. I have a medicinal herb store, now approaching my 15th year in business. But if these terrorists succeed, who will be next on the chopping block?

 It is the same kind of tactics as those the Fox News network uses to warp people’s minds and whip up emotions for their own purpose, which is to promote bigotry by yellow journalism. It harkens back to the House on Unamerican Activities Committee in the 1950s. Do we really want to go back there again?

 The saddest part is it has nothing to do with the right of patients to obtain the medicine they need to live. It is frightening to see this happen in Morro Bay, the hometown I have chosen for its friendly and open-minded atmosphere. It feels like our town is being taken hostage.