I was unable to attend the special meeting held on 7-26-16 (last night) so I will summarize Chief Wareham's notes, as presented by Chief Vasquez and Jackson, concerning effects of marijuana on communities that legalize it. Next week I hope to publish more detail on these findings. Here are some highlights.

My thanks to all three Chiefs for providing this voluminous information. I will republish their 8-page, single-space report in full next week.

On returning from an investigative trip to Colorado, Oregon, and Washington (where medical marijuana has been made legal), Police Chief Dave Wareham notes the following:

1. Overall Message, "Don't do it", i.e. approve a medical marijuana grow and distribution operation in our new business park.

2. Biggest issues are home grows, doctors issuing recommendations for profit, and very high potency.

3. 46 of 52 counties that opted out of commercial jarijuana. still experience problems.

4. Common comment: "I voted for it, but didn't think I was voting for this."

5. Colorado is now #1 in teen use, adult use, and college use.

6. Marijuana is now 100 percent different from traditional pot.

7. 80-90 percent of the population smoke; edibles and the concentrate scare them.

8. They have criminal organizations, Cuban nationals, Russian mafia, etc. coming into state, renting houses and setting up large illegal grows. Marijuana going out of state for large profit ($2,000 per pound in Colorado - $5,500 per pound East Coast.

9. ER admissions up 100 percent. 138 visits this year linked to marijuana.

10. DUIs: 77 percent linked with marijuana.

11. 2015 had highest fatality rate in TC.

12. Crime is us 6 percent state-wide. There is a noticeable increase in disorder, vagrancy, social issues.

13. Homeless population is up 153 percent.

14. Most homicides are marijuana related.

15. BHO explosions (over 20) on the rise

16. They now have "travelers" (homeless) who come to Colorado on 420-day, they stay to use marijuana and leave at first snowfall. They live and beg on the streets, urinate/defecate in public and are a community eyessore.

These statements comprise less than one page of the report. The entire report will be published next week in the Gazette.

A word to the wise: VOTE NO ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA.

My thanks to Chief Wareham for providing this valuable information.

The Relay for Life of Fillmore-Piru would like to welcome the community to come participate in a series of forums this summer on different patient outreaches for the American Cancer Society. To show the community how the American Cancer Society and Relay for Life can give back to their local communities. We have already had a successful event on June 20th, where Kretta Shaner came out and spoke on the Look Good Feel Better program. On July 25th at 7pm David Weissman will come, and speak on Road to Recovery, and on August 22nd at 7pm Pam Brady will come and speak on the 24/7 1-800-227-2345 number. These meetings will take please at the youth building next to the memorial building in Fillmore (511 2nd Street, Fillmore CA).

On July 25th at 7pm at the youth building next to the memorial building in Fillmore (511 2nd Street, Fillmore Ca). David Weissman, a volunteer who has been participating in the Road to Recovery program for over 6 years, will be joining us, to discuss the program. David has helped over 150 patients get to their cancer treatments, and volunteers because someday he might be the one that needs these services, and will rely on volunteers like himself to get him to treatment.

Road to Recovery is a curbside-curbside transportation service that provides free rides to cancer patients to and from treatments. Trained volunteer drivers donate their time and the use of their personal vehicles to help patients get to treatments they need. The program is offered to people with cancer who have no means of transportation and/or are unable to drive themselves.

So Why is the Road to Recovery Program important? Many people need daily or weekly treatment, often over a course of several months. Increasingly, these treatments are provided on an outpatient basis, which means that the person must have a way to get to the appointment. Family and friends may help, but they may not have the time or financial means to assume the total burden of frequent trips to treatment centers. A successful transportation assistance program can be a tremendous asset to the community.

How do patients schedule a ride? To request a ride patient must contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-227-2345. Patients must give a minimum of four (4) business days’ notice in advance of the date the ride is needed.

How to become a Road to Recovery Volunteer? Please contact the local Society Office, visit cancer.org/drive, or call 1-800-227-2345.

Relay for life of Fillmore-Piru will be happening September 24th-25th, 2016 from 9am-9am at Shiells Park in Fillmore. For more information on the Relay for life of Fillmore-Piru, please visit www.relayforlife.org/fillmoreca, or contact Caitlin Barringer (805)644-4237.

After checking some last minute information about marketing marijuana in California, and the serious social, economic, and legal problems plaguing Colorado, (which has legalized pot) I firmly believe the Council should vote "No" on this proposition. Otherwise we would set a terrible example for our young people and be rightfully seen as profound hypocrites. Fillmore would become the state's largest purveyor of marijuana.

I have always hated illegal drugs, including marijuana. I am completely biased on the issue, though I have never in my life taken an illegal drug, including marijuana. (I wish I could say the same for alcoholic beverages). Drugs have been the bane of our society, particularly since the 1960s. I've witnessed too many deaths and otherwise ruined lives due to drugs. I also believe that marijuana is indeed the gateway to hard drug abuse.

Marijuana is particularly insidious because it has so often been portrayed as something innocent, just something some people do to have fun playing with their brains, particularly young people. But science tells us marijuana smoke endangers our brains far more than tobacco. The science is clear and conclusive on this matter.

The dilemma here is that the city stands to make a lot of money taxing such an enterprise if it's allowed to develop in our Business Park. On the other hand such permission wounds Fillmore's reputation, sets a terrible example for our youth, and would attract crime and criminals like flies on a watermelon. Marijuana survives in a nest of crime and always has.

Although California has approved medical marijuana, getting a "recommendation" has always been easy for just about everyone, and growing and selling it is still a federal crime.

Growing and harvesting marijuana for strictly medical purposes is a legitimate practice, but should be as strictly controlled as hard drugs. I know of many cancer patients (my brother for one, who died of pancreatic cancer) who could only control the pain and nausea with marijuana. And control has always been the problem with marijuana. After all, it's just a weed.

Weed or no, today's marijuana is many times more powerful than that of the 1960s, and is often used as an ingredient in cookies and candy, which can entice children.

So, for these reasons I would strongly advise our Fillmore City Council to vote "No" on permitting the medical marijuana co-op to take a place in our Business Park. I hear that most if not all Ventura County cities feel the same.