I am disappointed the Tahoe Bonanza has not followed the equal-time rule on Incline Village cannabis dispensaries. I hope the Bonanza will at least print something to contrast the four recent tax and spend letters.

Two weeks ago, Jim Clark asked the difference between a Democrat and a Socialist. A better question is the difference between a democracy and a republic.

In our republic, leaders ignore the majority opinion that cannabis should be a matter of states’ rights, under the guise that the masses do not know best. In a pure democracy, the majority rules.

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The Rev. Bill Nadeau is welcome to his anti-cannabis religious opinion. Although I only attend church on the occasional holiday, I believe smoking is a sin.

When the pastor tries to enforce his religious point of view through taxpayer dollars, I have a problem. Taxpayers pay an extra $3-10 billion because of cannabis laws.

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There was a time in American history when the majority supported the pastor’s view. Ironically, religious leaders were the driving force for the separation of church and state.

The public’s opinion changes with time, as new facts are available in each generation’s formative years. The pastor should fact check his gateway theory because drug abuse research shows most start with alcohol.

It is disingenuous for the pastor to list “child and spousal abuse, violent crime, rape, teen pregnancy, STDs, family break up, divorce, school drop out, job loss, and fatal accidents” without providing the quantitative differences between drugs.

The reason women are more likely to substitute cannabis for alcohol than men is women are more likely to be victims of the crimes listed.

Cannabis was illegalized through racist motives in an attempt to stem immigration from Mexico. It is kept illegal to prevent the associated health problems.

It is time for the stubborn to admit the law is ineffective. Like alcohol prohibition, we are just increasing profits for the drug cartel and associated crimes. Americans no longer want to be hypocrites.

Adam Perrell

Incline Village