Off to the Ordinance Wars 

Editor:

Many thanks to Grant Scott-Goforth for excellent and ongoing coverage of the Ordinance Wars ("Speedin' for Weed," Nov. 19). I don't know whether to laugh or cry as I read about the endless bickering over square footage and permits. It seems to me the keyword in the state marijuana bills is "medical." It's hard to believe that all these HumCo growers want to sell their crops to dispensaries or comply with "215" regulations.

Kudos to EPIC, HumCPR and Humboldt Baykeeper for their positions on water issues and limiting the number of permits issued.

The fabled Green Rush has caused as much (if not more) environmental havoc as the much–maligned timber industry. While careless logging practices led to blocked or silted creeks, greedy growers have all but dried them up completely.

Loggers left piles of slash, but they did not leave piles of garbage nor scatterings of poisons. As for fire danger — those immense plastic hoops are bound to produce some deadly fumes if they catch fire.

Considering the craziness already brought about by the Green Rush, we should ask ourselves: Do we really want more of the same, in even greater quantity?

To preserve and protect what's left of our unique rural habitat, we should get out of the way and allow county administrators to apply sensible (if stringent) criteria for cannabis cultivation. Growers' groups and the board of supes need to realize that you can't please all of the people all of the time. Stop the squabbling and sniping, and git 'er done.

Should our Humboldt ordinance prove too strict for folks who are here to get rich and wreck the land, other counties under only state mandate may suit them better.

Betty Crowder, Honeydew