Home rule plays to NIMBY crowd
In response to Mare Grace’s letter to the editor Jan. 4, Big Island Americans for Safe Access agrees that Councilwoman Wille has a supportive position of medical cannabis. After all, her daughter benefited from using cannabis for pain relief from Lyme disease.
We also agree with Wille and Grace that the caregiver option needs to be restored to the program. Unfortunately, state legislators erred by phasing out caregivers by January 2019. Caregivers provide an important service in supplying inexpensive patient medicine. Whereas, dispensary prices are going to be prohibitive for low-income patients. A legislative priority: Restore caregivers to the program and increase the number of patients a caregiver can grow for.
Where BIASA disagrees with Councilwoman Wille is in her using “home rule” as a way to ban dispensaries from her district. She panders here to a small group from North Kohala who object to having a dispensary there.
Home rule can be a double-edged sword. Last year, Kauai’s council members attempted to hijack the dispensary bill by orchestrating the ruse of home rule.
Patients have unnecessarily suffered for 15 years without dispensaries relying on “black market” medicine. Why put seriously ill individuals through further hassles? Patients who live in North Kohala, deserve the convenience of a local dispensary.
We believe that the dispensary law already has tight controls and strict administrative oversight. There should be absolutely no concern that dispensaries will create problems no matter where they open. The projected fears of the North Kohala group are without basis.
Please, Councilwoman Wille, don’t surrender to the NIMBY (not in my backyard) attitude of a few of your constituents. Your letter refers to a future time when recreational cannabis will meld with medical. What will these folks say then? Most likely, “The sky is falling!”
Andrea Tischler, chairwoman, Big Island Chapter, Americans for Safe Access
Hilo