I had hoped to be able to participate in the discussion about expanding marijuana facilities and usage in Rifle but I have a prior commitment for that meeting time.

We are 40 years down the road from the time when students at Rifle High School approached us asking if we could do something about the drug and alcohol use by their peers. Subsequently, the birth of Garfield Youth Services, today known as YouthZone. The program has been serving youth and families all these years.

Please leave in place the current regulations banning retail sales and limiting cultivation. The council should not make the primary decision based on tax revenue or those who have the loudest voices. Go find some healthy source of additional revenue.

I totally agree that medical marijuana is needed to help with some medical problems. I also believe it should be strictly regulated, prescribed by medical doctors and dispensed through a pharmacy. (Why can’t Rifle be the first to initiate that concept?)

If council would spend the bucks to poll the citizens of Rifle, members would then have heard the citizens’ voices in order to make the decision. This is too important an issue to only spend a couple of meetings discussing. It took us months to get a program in place to serve the families and youth. We wanted a program that addressed the problem and was good the community. One that would not be here today and gone tomorrow.

Marilyn Hall

Rifle