Jay Patrick

This letter is for our city council and mayor. They are our city leaders and are the only ones who can protect us and our kids at this point in time.

Redmond has always been the Hub of Oregon. We have been the town in Oregon that other cities have looked to emulate. We have been a leader, rather than a follower.

Oregon has turned itself into a West Coast pack of states, capturing the worst in the category of addiction in the United States. And we’re near the top of worst states in the U.S. when it comes to caring for mental health and addiction issues.

Oregon has opened itself to the freeway of drugs while making moves in the past years to disassemble the care facilities that would treat the outcomes of drug addiction and mental problems.

Currently, Redmond follows federal law in our business license code. This allows us to keep marijuana dispensaries out of our city. There is plenty of access to this drug anyway, so we don’t need to be surrounding our children with extra availability to marijuana.

Redmond School District understand the dangers of marijuana to our youth. They have submitted a letter to the city leaders asking them not make the change to allow dispensaries into Redmond.

I was reading a statement from a major insurance agent to our public agencies in the state they are. named OEBB and in the newsletter they had a graph showing that Oregon has captured the title of the most addicted state in the union.

I challenge anyone to find anywhere in the world that promotes marijuana for our youth to consume recreationally as being a good idea. I don’t think you will find anyone that believes it will be safe for our children. Put it in our town and you make it easier for our youth to access. That is a fact.

I don’t understand why our state has made this drug or any drug legal and promoted it’s use. It makes no sense. The idea of the vote to legalizing marijuana with the purpose of destroying the illegal market has been proven ridiculously false.

I ask along with many voters from Redmond who did not vote for the legalization on this drug that the Redmond City Council stand firm and not change our business licenses to allow this drug into Redmond.

Stand strong as the Hub of Oregon, an independent thinker and not a follower. Do not fall into the ridiculous thought the becoming a drug dealer as many other cities have done. This will not create Redmond the economic boon you seem to advocate it will.

As I have read out there somewhere and it makes a lot of sense in this situation “All ideas and decisions have consequences, bad ideas and decisions have victims.” Don’t make our young children victims.

Redmond citizens ask: Please don’t make decision to change this code to allow this drug business into our community.