Freedom to Choose – The SandPaper

Letters

By Gail Travers | on November 24, 2021

To the Editor:

I was amused by the one-sided column about the proposed cannabis store (Cannabis Store Unwelcome in Small LBI Beach Town, 11/17). The writer brings up all these crazy points because he thinks the store will cause undue harm to the community, basing his conclusions on all the articles he supposedly researched. Has he ever done the same research on the effects of alcohol and tobacco?

You can walk into a number of convenience stores on the Island and see multiple brands of cigarettes behind the counter, but thats OK. You can see liquor stores and even alcohol on the shelves in some markets, but that is OK. Has he ever checked on the number of accidents due to alcohol or the number of people with liver disease, but that is OK because they are from good stores.

Has he ever done research on how many people die from lung disease due to smoking and how addictive cigarettes are? He even wonders if the cannabis store will ask the users if they are pregnant or if they have any other conditions, yet has he ever heard that question asked in any liquor or convenience store? I would think not.

My point is this. He has been told by the media that alcohol and tobacco are acceptable by adults, but cannabis is a drug and therefore must be bad. The voters of New Jersey fortunately did not agree with him. The voters understood that adults should have the right to choose for themselves if they want to consume alcohol, tobacco and cannabis products. By allowing the sale of legalized cannabis products, responsible adults now have the option to get products that are not sold on the black market by organized crime and from questionable sources.

As a taxpayer I would welcome a business that will help to contribute to tax revenues of Beach Haven. Taxes in New Jersey are already the highest in the country, so lets be sensible. We should allow liquor, convenience and cannabis stores for those who want them. I resent anyone trying to protect us using the idea of protecting the children as their reasoning. What makes this country great is giving us the freedom to choose. Lets keep it that way.

Paul Ackel

Beach Haven

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Freedom to Choose - The SandPaper