Pubdate: Tue, 8 Jul 2008 Source: Times-Standard (Eureka, CA) Copyright: 2008 MediaNews Group, Inc. Contact: http://www.times-standard.com/writealettertotheeditor Website: http://www.times-standard.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1051 Author: Robert Gelder HMS DOES PROP. 215 RIGHT I am writing on behalf of Humboldt Medical Supply, a medical marijuana dispensary. As a patient for two years, I am familiar with their quality standards. After attending Arcata City Council meetings, I cannot help but take issue with the city's attempts to dissuade them from conducting a legitimate business in a safe, open, and forthright manner after the expenditure of several hundred thousand dollars. HMS has met or exceeded all requirements placed upon them. They operate in a discreet manner. In fact, their ethics is one of the main reasons I chose HMS. The city is concerned that there would be groups of patients hanging out and using their medication in public. This idea is nothing less than laughable. What does the city do to control the drunks and rowdies on the Plaza? The issue was raised that by allowing HMS to grow marijuana at their dispensary location would somehow result in a proliferation of dispensaries on the plaza and grow houses throughout the city. I agree that illegal grow houses are a huge problem. HMS, on the other hand, obtained proper permits to build a very secure grow space at great expense, with state-of-the-art filtration systems to reduce smell. To now penalize them after the fact seems capricious at best and malicious at the very least. One of the city's strongest allies will be businesses which operate legitimately, which HMS has proven itself to be: Offering a quality product safely, discreetly, and directly to patients at reasonable or sometimes no cost. Robert Gelder McKinleyville - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake