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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0193.003 2006-2008 Murashige Laura _ From: Cynthia Linet [cynthialinet@gmail.com) Sent: Tuesday, March 20, 2007 9:30 AM To: counciltestimony@co.hawaii,hi.us r ~ r Subject: my testimony ;`~;j'~ Zui ~ Attachments: green' 1.doc green'l.doc(79 KB) In case I am unable to attend tomorrow I want my testimony placed on the record. Cynthia Linet, Esq. Comm. No.~q 3.3 Ref. To: ~w.....w ~ ,,t ~ orh ~iAR 21 2007 i Good evening council members; Well its nice to see some new faces on the counsel. I feel hopeful that this new configuration will have more sense when it comes to the issue of green harvest then all the councils before you since the advent of green harvest. For some of you who don't know me, my name is Cynthia Linet and I am an attorney here in Hilo in private practice for the past 13 years and I am also a teen court judge. I have had that position for about 10 years and until recently when it became more difficult to get a space, I had a booth at the Makuu market giving legal advice for a miniimal fee. I have spoken many times before on the issue of green harvest and so have people in the audience. We have all approached the issue from many different ways, as a first amendment problem, a privacy problem, a health problem, and as a financial burden to the community and the healthcare system, but all our comments and concerns have gone on deaf ears and the enormous problems we are having here as a result of your failure to act properly in this matter continue. So I am here again, I think for the fourth or fifth time, to tell most of you what you already know. Green Harvest has been directly responsible for many of the ills that have befallen this community since it began. It is the main cause of the rapid rise in methamphetamines, crack and ice, the huge growth in special needs students in our schools, born addicted to ice, the higher costs of health care due to drug infestation, the rise in crime, the loss of jobs, the slowing of our economy, and all the peripheral problems resulting from the problems just mentioned. Before green harvest a reputable grower could grow a crop that would feed and clothe and house his family, buy his land, build his house and in general contribute economically to his community. All the money that was generated from its production, and I don't have to tell you how substantial that was, stayed in the community and all businesses prospered. People who did not drink or use heavy drugs could rely on a steady and relatively inexpensive source of marijuana to relieve their stress or just make them a little happier. A plant that didn't rot their livers, ruin their lungs, mess up their minds, bodies, and children or cause them to commit violent crimes. Then came green harvest. Growers stopped growing. People who could no longer get marijuana resorted to heavier drugs like ice. I'm not telling you anything new here. These drugs as you now know have been the scourge of this county and the country as well. Child Protective Services cases are up drastically since green harvest, fueled in lazge part by the rapid growth of ice addicted parents. As one social worker candidly told me one day "Give me the good old days when the issue was marijuana. At least we knew that the refrigerator was full." Our schools have been overwhelmed with special needs children, the result of being born addicted to these hard drugs. That never happened with marijuana. Our healthcare system has been overwhelmed as well with addicts and the results of the mayhem they cause while on these debilitating drugs. That never happened when people were able to smoke a little marijuana. Marijuana users do not burden the healthcare system, they don't get emphysema or sclerosis of the liver. In fact I know of no chronic or degenerative diseases that marijuana smokers are prone to. Don't misunderstand me, I am a teen court judge and when it comes to marijuana use for young people I am adamantly opposed and I am very vocal about it. I believe that marijuana use for young people is down right dangerous because it can rob them of their youth and al] the learning that must be done, stunting their emotional and intellectual growth as well. So what's the deal? Why is marijuana considered the scourge and more efforts are expended to wipe it out rather than hard drugs? Well, it's a money thing. Marijuana growers are easy targets, they don't go crazy when they are confronted by the law and the law allows the confiscation of their possessions, not to mention the thousands of pounds of the plant that the police manage to harvest each year. Isn't it odd that we eradicate ice but harvest marijuana? The police have told us themselves that they harvest the plants just at the height of their potency. They then separate the buds from the stems, weigh them, and give them a street value and then........ Well the video the police prepared that told me this information failed to show us the final process. What exactly happens to the buds after that? We as a community, do not for one minute believe that all that high quality product is burned or mixed with trash. I have heard in some circles green harvest being called the policeman's retirement fund. Perhaps we should have public burnings so that the community can be assured that the police are not just keeping the marijuana for themselves. So now you know. You've known all along really but have not been cowageous enough to speak out for the protection of your community. You must stop the invasive and mercenary practice of robbing the people of their plant and take that money and use it to eradicate the true problems here, ice, poverty and hopelessness. You are a new council, Do not just take my word for what I've said, but research the situation yourself. In any case, until you thoroughly understand the consequences of green harvest, you must at the very least, have a moratorium on the practice. I urge you to do the right thing here. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Cynthia Linet, Esq.