Pubdate: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 Source: Sacramento News & Review (CA) Copyright: 2011 Chico Community Publishing, Inc. Contact: http://newsreview.com/sacto/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/540 Author: Mark Lusk Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v11/n629/a09.html DELAY LED TO CANNABIS CRACKDOWN Re "Talk about the compassion" by Nick Miller (SN&R The 420, October 20): I think the state of California and the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors should be embarrassed by the way they have handled the whole cannabis issue. Both had 15 years to come up with a way to avoid the problem that has happened now, but they ignored every indicator telling them that this industry needed to be regulated. The result? We have a situation were everyone is going to be affected. The county has been holding stakeholder meetings for the past few months ... that I think were meant to stall the whole process of allowing collectives to operate in the county. I think the county knew that the feds were coming, and basically wasted everybody's time and money, with no intent of following through with anything that they said. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. This industry needs to be regulated-which I am for-but not in the manner or direction that this has gone. California and Sacramento County should have had a sit-down with the right people and groups and taken care of this a long time ago. I do know one thing that the feds, the state of California, and Sacramento County can't change: Cannabis is and cannabis always will be medicine. Mark Lusk Sacramento - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.