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Disagrees with mayor

Dec. 3, 2019 |

I would like to congratulate the town of Agawam for joining the other 100 communities in the state for overwhelmingly voting down recreational sale of cannabis in their town.

The reason why I am bringing up this subject is in my hometown of West Springfield we just had an election of new city councilors for the town. During the candidates’ night no one asked the councillors how they stood on this issue so I am making sure the people of West Springfield are aware of it.

Now back to my point about retail pot sales in the town of West Springfield voting down in the state-wide election the legalization of cannabis in the state. The City Council voted eight to one back in July to bar the retail pot stores in town. After the vote Mayor Reichelt “vetoed” it. The City Council had to have another override the mayor, which they did by the same vote of eight to one. It is in my opinion the mayor was driven by powerful special interest groups who wanted pot shop in the town.

I saw what recreational cannabis and other drugs do to young people and believe me it is not a pretty sight. I can agree with the mayor on many issues whether it is fiscal or political matters. But on this issue I firmly draw the line and I believe many thousands of West Siders agree with me.

What got me upset about the mayor was he knew what cannabis can do to our kids because he was informed different times through the media that study after study confirmed the negative effects of pot on young people. And yet several weeks after he tried to push through his agenda on pot sales he is at a school anti-drug program advocating the dangerous use of drugs which I found very hypocritical after he “vetoed” the city council vote.

It is my opinion that because of his stance on retail pot sales in the town he does not deserve to be re-elected as mayor.

To realize the severity of this issue Gov. Baker in a recent statement called marijuana “ a very real threat to our roadways in the state.”

The commander of the Massachusetts State Police called on Baker to impose an emergency ban on legalized marijuana similar to the one he placed on vaping until there is a test on motorists is developed to identify how much it affects their driving ability.

In a recent study nationwide after alcohol, marijuana was the most prevalent drug found in the systems of drivers in fatal crashes in our state and across the country. This and many other studies disapproves the notion that recreational marijuana is “harmless.”

Another point I would like to bring out during the marijuana controversy on retail pot sales where was the School Committee and other organizations to voice their opinion on this issue since it would affect our school children.

In conclusion I wrote this letter because I talked to many parents and grandparents about the issue and they feel the same way I do and believe me if anyone jeopardized their children’s safety and welfare you will hear about it.

Bob Gernano
West Springfield

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