Regarding the article on the plan to legalize cannabis (“State plan to legalize cannabis use takes shape,” Sept. 19, Star-Advertiser): The legalize-marijuana lobby already lost all credibility when the promised revenue from medicinal use never materialized, so it begged for tax breaks. Now it wants us to believe that if we only allow it to sell its poison to more people, it will make us money.

Now proven to be a loser financially, what’s the benefit? Since the push to legalize weed nationally, teen use is up double-digits. Go to any Narcotics Anonymous meeting or any local park where drug addicts are and ask them which illegal drug they started with. The majority will say weed.

Are we really willing to sell the souls of our children for some promised tax revenue that will never come? Visit San Francisco or Seattle and see the damage of pro-drug policies firsthand.

Erich Wida

Kaneohe

Queen was royalty, both by birth and in service

Although Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II was born into royalty, she was devoted and served her country with dignity, respect, care and love for her people. She will dearly be missed.

Every nation can learn from a great role model: royalty in true character.

Jean Jeremiah

Kakaako

Move bill that would ban too-early trash pickup

The beeping, banging and clanging of trash pickup activities could be considered sounds of abuse when they regularly occur as early as 2:30 a.m.

Bill 23, stating no trash pickup by private refuse companies before 6 a.m., was introduced in the City Council on March 28 and would end that abuse. It is now at a standstill.

When the bill was not placed on the Aug. 17 agenda of the Transportation, Sustainability and Health Committee, I filed a right-to-know request for public records to find out why.

The response indicates no written correspondence between the chair and private refuse companies, no phone calls and no meetings. In contrast, 26 emails were sent in support of the bill, with six from condominium boards of directors.

The committee chair can indefinitely continue the pain and suffering of the people impacted by early-morning trash pickup, while others in the city and county are helpless in ending the abuse.

Carlino Giampolo

Waikiki

All workers need to say ‘no’ to stop corruption

No amount of new laws and/or new anticorruption agencies will stop public corruption in Hawaii (“Improve oversight against corruption,” Our View, Star-Advertiser, Sept. 20).

Of course the recent actions by federal prosecutors help to publicize the most egregious examples. But a major shift in employees, contractors and the public is needed.

I worked for the federal and state governments for over 40 years, on the mainland and in Hawaii, for two different state agencies.

I was suspended, reassigned and ostracized by my superiors and co-workers for attempting to hold managers, supervisors and employees accountable and abiding by ethical standards.

Others were promoted by keeping their heads down and looking the other way to infractions and abuses of power.

Stopping corruption requires that each employee says “No” to corruption and ethics violations, and that supervisors are held accountable for their actions and inactions.

Clyde Morita

Kaneohe

Cartoon actually spelled Hawaiian name correctly

A big mahalo to Jim Toomey who does “Sherman’s Lagoon,” regarding his Sept. 20 cartoon. He actually spelled Papahänaumokuäkea using the diacritical marks!

Linda Giers

Waipahu

Don’t overlook ocean thermal for firm energy

The list of firm generation “workhorses” posted by Hawaiian Electric’s Jim Kelly is incomplete (“All options required for firm generation,” Star- Advertiser, Letters, Sept. 18). Clearly, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) checks all the boxes for generation capacity and “always on” capability.

The OTEC technology is feasible and has been demonstrated by world-class scientists, technologists and engineers — many of whom are residents of Hawaii nei. Hawaii is uniquely positioned to apply OTEC technology to our energy generation requirements, now and well into the future.

Bill Friedl

Kailua

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