We don’t need another think tank

David Shapiro was right on target, as usual, in his column about an Obama institute ("Isles must halt desperate push for Obama’s attention," Star-Advertiser, Volcanic Ash, Jan. 5).

The last thing the world needs is another so-called "think tank," and we certainly do not need in Hawaii another place for conferences. Our oceanfront in Kakaako is too precious for such use. As Shapiro pointed out, we have our beautiful but underutilized convention center, and the East-West Center is ideal for the purposes being considered.

Keep the waterfront for use by the community.

Shirley Hasenyager
Kailua

Spending won’t help middle class

U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz has the right ideas but the wrong solutions ("Middle-class families need cost of living relief," Star-Advertiser, Insight, Jan. 5). He believes that the middle class needs more programs to combat the high cost of living in Hawaii. Programs like his FAMILY ACT to require paid leave for family emergencies, increasing the minimum wage, universal pre-kindergarten, tax credits to pay for day care, making college more affordable, and expanding Social Security.

Does he not understand that the expensive programs he is proposing are what increase the cost of living for those of us in the middle class who have to pay for them?

Garry P. Smith
Ewa Beach

Yes to marijuana, no to regulations

Your Big Q poll of Jan. 4 showed 51 percent support for legal marijuana. We believe this individual right has been denied too long.

However, your poll doesn’t ask the right questions. Why insist that legalization must include "regulate for personal use?"

Why not just ask the question without trying to get people to indicate support for some sort of regulated bureaucratic system? Does anyone understand that marijuana users in our state simply want to be left alone and not be subject to some new Department of Marijuana with lots of regulations, licenses and paperwork?

And why limit Hawaii with its potentially valuable commercial crop to "personal" use?

Doesn’t anyone see the hypocrisy of allowing individuals to use marijuana while making criminals of those who grow, process, distribute and sell it?

Either this plant is a devil to be fought or it is (as most science tells us) relatively benign.

If you believe it’s benign, there is little rationale for opposing a repeal of existing laws without replacing them with some highly controlled regulatory system.

Tracy Ryan
The Libertarian Party of Hawaii

War on drugs has been fruitless

In 1971, President Richard Nixon declared a "war on drugs," principally focusing on marijuana. Forty-three years later, more people use marijauna than ever.

Forty-three years of this war on marijuana has accomplished nothing but ruined lives and wasted dollars. It’s time for a change.

Why does Hawaii persist in spending precious tax dollars on arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating people for non-violent marijuana offenses when we could not only save tax dollars now wasted on this fruitless "war" but also gain tax revenue on the sale of marijuana to adults while simultaneously making it more difficult for children to obtain, just like tobacco?

Is it merely a lack of knowledge on the part of our legislators or or a lack of courage that stands in the way of an enlightened approach on this issue?

Russell Wichman
Keaau, Hawaii island

Keep homeless away from tourists

I wholeheartedly agree with Stephany Sofos ("Homelessness must be solved," Star-Advertiser, Letters, Jan. 3).

As many other letters have stated, many of them from tourists, the homeless all over Oahu are adversely impacting our No. 1 asset: Tourism.

In September 2010, I was in a 20-person, 10-day tour group to China, visiting the largest cities. In Shanghai I asked our tour guide why we had not seen any homeless people. She replied, "They are not allowed to be in the areas where the tourists go."

Why can’t our city and state governments do likewise? Instead of our government’s perennial inaction, they should take action to encourage, not hinder, our vital tourism industry by not allowing homelessness in our tourism areas, especially Waikiki.

Mark Webster
Waialae-Kahala

Ban GMOs used to fight cancer?

Marilynn Marchione of the Associated Press wrote: "In one of the biggest advances against leukemia and other blood cancers in many years, doctors are reporting unprecedented success by using gene therapy to transform patients’ blood cells into soldiers that seek and destroy their cancer" ("Gene therapy boosts cancer fight," Star-Advertiser, Dec. 8).

"The treatment involves filtering patients’ blood to remove millions of white blood cells called T-cells, altering them in the lab to contain a gene that targets cancer, and returning them to the patient in infusions over three days," she wrote.

Now, will Kauai and Hawaii island citizens fight to oppose the University of Hawaii Cancer Center and other research facilities from experimenting with GMO blood and other GMO therapy as they have done with GMO plants?

James Kuroiwa
Kahaluu