What About Some Tucson Turkeys?
Jim Hightower once again attacks Walmart, his favorite target, this time because they have pledged to source “only” 9 percent of their food locally (“Meet Your New Neighborhood Food Market,” Nov. 18). Because of Arizona’s climate and topography, only small pockets of the state are suitable for significant agriculture. Maybe the 9 percent number could be improved if we developed some new possibilities, such as Arizona City artichokes, Benson bananas, Clarkdale cod, Kayenta king crab and Salt River salmon.
Jerry Krueger
Danehy’s Opposition to Medical Marijuana Proves He’s a Jerk!
Tom Danehy’s opposition to the medical marijuana initiative blew me away (Oct. 28).
My wife has cancer and went through six months of chemo and radiation. On a good day, she could get out of bed and try to walk around the block. On a bad day, she would lie in a ball in excruciating pain, only getting up to puke her guts out. Marijuana was one of the few things that gave her some relief.
Have you ever thought about what that would be like to go through or watch? I guess not. You are too busy trying to write a “funny” quip: “That narcotic done made you null and void.”
I am a 59-year-old conservative who was trying to ease his wife’s misery. You have proven yourself to be an irresponsible, ignorant, thoughtless jerk.
John Woodin
A Comment From a Reader at TucsonWeekly.com
Regarding “Your Tax Dollars at Work” (Nov. 18):
You write about stressed immigrant (translation: illegal alien) communities living in fear as if that were a bad thing. … Those of us who came here legally avoided that stress. True, we had to fill out forms, be photographed, pay fees and have several interviews where it was emphasized that we must not be a burden to our adopted country, but in return, we had a green card. That’s the advantage of coming here, you know, legally.
—AZRLS
This article appears in Nov 25 – Dec 1, 2010.
Mr. Wooden has it right: Danehty is not only a jerk, he is an insensitive and uneducated idiot. His rants against medical use of marijuana are senseless, immature, and least of all, lacking a remote acquaintance with reality or research. Maybe he doesn’t really understand except through the tainted, hilariously exaggerated, “reffer madness” perspective he has been fed by various anti-innocuous substance lobbiests and cartels within and outside the US.
Maybe if he had the correct perspective … ? Would he like to try a few weeks doing chemo, or, feeling CNS pain from C5 to T5 every waking moment of everyday? I am sure someone could arrange this experiment. I too am a registered Republican, retired, disabled veteran with over two decades experience as a substance abuse counselor, psychiatric therapist, and substance abuse intervention educator for DoD. You need to worry about a REAL drug frought with dangers, but one I suspect you of which you imbibe and praise – alcohol. BTW, I will oppose, and vote against, anyone who obstructs or impedes compassion before criminalization.
Whatever happened to the irony of smoking to help against cancer? I’d love to hear about dispensaries who give out medical marijuana in non-smoking form, but don’t want to subscribe to High Times to find out.