As an 80-year-old medical marijuana user, I was pleased that on July 1, the dispensaries would finally be able to sell the oil cartridges, which are smokeless and odorless (“Cannabis oil cartridges soon to be available at dispensaries,” Star-Advertiser, June Opens in a new tab25) Opens in a new tab.
Cure Hawaii advertised a special Sunday opening at 10 a.m. When I got there they told me that they couldn’t sell me anything because the governor had not signed the bill that the Legislature passed. However, it would become law on July 10, with or without the governor’s signature.
I suppose he was too busy with the nuclear missile mess, so that he didn’t have time to sign this important piece of legislation.
The dispensaries did inform their customers by email. However I’m sure many like me did not read a Sunday morning email sent at 7:12 a.m., especially since I had received several emails telling me of the availability of this “new” product on July 1.
Sandra Conrad
Ala Moana
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Move Ala Moana water polo match
The few times I have been at Ala Moana Beach for a swim on Saturday morning, I have been incensed that a water polo match is set up in the curve of Magic Island and Ala Moana Beach in front of the first lifeguard station.
The match displaced many swimmers already there and prevented others from entering that same area. That match takes up a good portion of the swimming area, leaving spectators and swimmers wondering if they would be hit by the swift balls.
This is the most popular area of the beach for kids and other swimmers, because there is a wider gradual slope out to deeper waters and not the sudden drop-off as with most of Ala Moana Beach.
The water polo organizer should be considerate of other beachgoers by moving the match farther Ewa, toward the second lifeguard station. There are fewer people there and lots more room for the match, without the possibility of others being hit by wayward swift balls.
Carol Ching
Kakaako
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Last chance to celebrate July 4?
Is this our last chance to celebrate the Fourth of July freedoms that we probably take for granted, like the right to say what we want when we want, or to protest what we deem is unfair or wrong, or to vote in a free election for the candidate of our choice?
President Donald Trump, who already has said he wouldn’t mind becoming a dictator, may not allow free speech. When his misdeeds are reported he calls it fake news. It’s Trump who is bogus: His dictator buddy, Russian President Vladimir Putin, helped skew the election, and likely influenced North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet with Trump to give him the illusion of credibility.
Some states controlled by the president’s Republican allies have refused to audit the election to confirm that Trump actually won fair and square. Who’s watching over the voting machines in your district to ensure they are not tampered with?
Stephen Burns
Mililani
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Boys in chains at southern border
I saw it on PBS Newshour last month in a segment on immigrant children: boys, maybe ages 9 to 14, walking in line in chains. It was a quick shot: A bus roared up and stopped; a line of boys walked toward the stopped bus, nothing disturbing. Then a camera zoomed under the bus to show the walking feet. Just the feet, small feet, some in very worn sneakers, chained together at the ankles.
I couldn’t believe what I saw, so the next morning I looked up the program on the PBS website (PBS Newshour, June 22). No mistake, there it was — children being transported in a manner reserved for hardened criminals.
Shame. Shame on those who contrived the system. Shame to those who attached those chains. The Statue of Liberty is weeping, and so am I.
Shirley Samuelson
Ahuimanu
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We should control who lives with us
Over the past several weeks I have tried to look openly and objectively at the divisive immigration situation our country has been facing.
Then it finally hit me. And yes, I am the grandson of an immigrant from Scotland who arrived in Hilo in 1904.
How many of us lock our home, and why? Is it not to control who comes into our home?
How different is that from our borders? I do not wish to have children or anyone to suffer, but we have immigration laws for a reason. Unless those laws are changed by Congress, we have an obligation to follow existing law.
Also, please consider the many immigrants who come here legally, have done what is required to achieve citizenship, and now proudly call themselves citizens. Many know more about our history than natural-born citizens.
Why should some of them get pushed aside by those crossing over to our country illegally?
F.M. Scotty Anderson
Waialae Nui
