In 2018 an article in The Post-Journal reported that legalization of marijuana took a big step forward. It was said that the “pros would outweigh the cons”. We could raise $700 million in tax revenue. The county Board of Health backed legalization because the “pros outweigh the cons”.

This all took place in spite of the fact there is a substantial amount of information to the contrary. It’s not a case of armchair quarterbacking. The information is out there and you don’t need to be a genius to find it.

On November 18, 2021, The Post-Journal reported “Drug overdoses (over 100,000) now surpass deaths from guns, car crashes and even flu and pneumonia.”

The latest data through April shows that about a thousand more lives were lost in the past 12 months than in the year before that. There were 111,355 overdose deaths in the 12-month period ending April 2023, compared with 110,394 deaths in the 12-month period ending March 2022. If it was not for Narcan there would be a hell of a lot more deaths.

You don’t need to smoke it to get high. The smell is every place you go, even construction sights. The odor is indisputable and is there even when some families exit their vehicles.

And now there is $128 million of our tax dollars earmarked to bail out the legal cannabis markets because we took too long to work out the details. What kind of precedent is that setting? Many new businesses would like to have the same privileges when starting out. I think someone has had too may tokes on the water pipe.

So almost six years later could you please give us an update about all the pros that were discussed because many of us have not seen any at all.

Sometimes I will stop at the reservation in Onoville to purchase cigarettes for my son. The dispensaries look like the Buffalo Bills parking lot when the football game is over. Guess where that $700 million dollars that was boasted about is going.

I know you folks were trying to do what is best Jamestown. However an article in The Post-Journal giving us an update would be nice. In my meager opinion I hope we didn’t make a serious mistake.

Bruce Piatz is a Jamestown resident.