In opposing medical marijuana, Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera and Utah’s rural sheriffs are warning that “in rural Utah, if you’re 100 miles away from a dispensary, you can grow your own. How do you monitor that?”
A few questions for the sheriffs:
First, if Proposition 2 passes, wouldn’t you “monitor” marijuana grown by unauthorized growers in essentially the same way that you currently monitor the growing of marijuana?
Second, are you aware that if dispensaries were placed in just three cities — Salt Lake City, Price and Beaver — 99 percent of Utah’s population would live within 100 miles of a dispensary?
Third, were you aware that virtually all of the residents more than 100 miles from one of the above-mentioned dispensaries are people who live near Nevada or Colorado, where marijuana is legal and accessible?
Fourth, wouldn’t you prefer that taxes collected on legal medical marijuana purchased by Utah residents stay in Utah instead of in the state where it currently is being purchased?
Steve Warren, West Valley City
