In March of 2010 Mr Bob Brooks was the Sheriff of Ventura County. Now I really didn't know much about Mr Brooks so when I read his article in the Ventura County Star I got to know him real well. This is what he wrote at that time.
Mr Bob (ya gotta be kidding) Brooks recently wrote a completely ridiculous article for the Ventura County Star. It is reminiscence of the 1930's and 1940's when the big tobacco and alcohol industries paid off the politicians to make Marijuana illegal. They produced movies such as "Killer Weed" and hired PR firms to develop ads portraying Marijuana as an addictive killer drug.
Mr Brooks uses examples of what he determined were the incorrect figures by the California Board of Equalization of revenue gained of $1.4 billion dollars if Marijuana were legalized. He also belittled the findings of Mr Jon Gettman the former National Director of NORMAL. (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws). Saying that Mr Gettman's findings were grossly incorrect and that was where the Board of Equalization got their information.
In his article he doesn't bother to tell us what he believes the true revenue would be, he instead relies on the work of a single lady, Dr Rosalie Pacula from the Rand Corp for his information. He then makes the point that for every $1.00 gained in tax revenue on alcohol and tobacco we, the citizens pay $8.95 in social cost. Nobody disputes that Alcohol and Tobacco are dangerous, addictive, drugs, but they are legal, taxed, and controlled.
He then goes on to state that Marijuana is a dangerous, addictive, and highly potent drug. In my 50 years experience with Marijuana, (I lived through the 50's and 60's), and1000's of user of Marijuana I have known, I have yet to find anybody that has become addicted to it. As a matter of fact just the opposite, as a person ripens in age they become less and less enamored with Marijuana, it seems to not be as enjoyable and also the fact that it increases hunger and tiredness makes it very much less desirable.
Mr Brooks insists that Marijuana smoke causes Cancer. In test over 50 years no evidence exsists that Marijuana causes Cancer. As a matter of fact it has been proven to eliminate some forms of Cancer and helps tremendously in the after math of Cancer treatment.
It's certainly a good thing that Mr Brooks finally left office, it's also a good thing that the person he touted to replace him lost the election.
The only real reason that law agencies are so against the legalization of Marijuana is simply because they make too much money fighting the "War on Drugs".
For your entertainment and edification here is a little sonnet I wrote for Mr Brooks.
Ode to a Good Ol' Boy
Old Sheriff Bobby Brooks is a "Good Ol' Boy"
He runs the department with a personal ploy
He got his job, on a Silver Platter.
Now says to all, What the hell is the matter?
He was Bradbury's boy, in the good ol' days.
He thought for sure he'd get his ways.
These days he sighs, When he hears "Hang um High"
He knows it's over, makes him want to cry.
He wants to pick his successor, we know thats true
The Commission popped his bubble and now he's Blue.
He says he'll retire, get out of the race, it's only a way to try to save face.
He'll ride into the sunset, with his retirement money,
Laughing all the way, knowing it's all so Phoney!
Rellis Smith
----- Original Message -----
From: "RONALD SMITH" <rellis39@sbcglobal.net>
To: biking@cityofventura.net
Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2011 4:56:25 PM
Subject: Bike Idea
A short while ago my wife was involved in an accident with a bicycle on Poli St in front of the city hall. The police were called and determined that the accident was the fault of the bicycle rider who had been wearing a head set with an ipod listening to music and didn't hear my wife coming behind her and made a left turn into the side of my wife's car.
Luckily my wife is a very conscientious driver and was only going about 20MPH. The girl that was riding the bicycle was slightly injured and her bike was a mess, not to mention the side of my wife's car.
The major problem was that of course the girl had no insurance to alleviate the situation so we, (my wife and I were forced to pay $400.00, our deductible). Our insurance paid the remaining $1500.00 to fix our car. That's right; the girl on the bicycle had caused almost $2000.00 damage to the side of my wife's car.
Now that that has been said, I believe because we, (the tax paying citizens) pay out millions of dollars per year for the "Bicycle Riders), we give them a portion of our streets marked so that nobody else can use that part, the law states that bicycle riders have the same rights on the road as cars do.
We build racks so they can lock up their bicycles to keep them safe, we spend time and money on committees to develop more "things" to give to bicycle riders, and yet bicycle riders do not need a license to ride on the streets and of course the worst part is they are not required to have insurance. Cars need insurance, motorcycles need insurance, scooters need insurance, but not bicycle riders.
I have read about maybe a dozen accidents in the past year in our area that included bicycles. I do really think it's about time bicycle riders are required to have a license and insurance like everybody else. The cost of course would be determined by the insurance industry, and the license cost would be determined by the DMV.
Rellis Smith
rellis39@sbcglobal.net
What does the Gang in the Ivory Tower actually do with all of our tax money you might ask...
Read this stuff....
June 27, 2009
Stupid is as Stupid does!
It never ends, the Gang in the Ivory Tower, (Ventura City Council), once again is in the throes of considering giving away $2,000,000 of our tax money. They have been crying “poor boy” for months now and even want the citizens of Ventura to allow them to raise the sales tax in the city by ½ percent in order to raise money so they can give away more.
Best Buy a multi-billion dollar corporation that has more money than god or the city of Ventura by far is considering opening a store in Ventura but the owners of the property, a Los Angeles company, they want to move into, doesn’t want to spend the $2,000,000 to make improvement that would be required. Sooooo.... Best Buy is asking the Gang in the Ivory Tower to give them a $2,000,000 tax break so they can make the improvement needed.
Our illustrious, intelligent, looking out for you, City Manager, Mr Rick Cole stated that it would make more sense for the property owner to leave the store vacant until the economy recovers, (or hell freezes over), than to lease it to Best Buy on their terms. Even if the Gang in the Ivory Tower decided not to go along with Best Buys request they have already started spending our tax money on the situation, they hired another “consultant” to tell them if they should do it or not.
In 2005 they gave a 10 year $400,000 loan to Jaguar/Land Rover which they claim is being repaid, of course they don’t mention how much the city is making on the loan or if it is being paid on time. Then a while back when the Pacific View Mall was being built the Gang that was in the Tower at that time made a “tax sharing” deal with the property owners that we are still paying on, Mr Cole says he thinks it was a 30 year deal. (Funny he only thinks it was a 30 year deal).
The deal Best Buy is requesting is the same as the Pacific View mall deal, we (the citizens) would pay them back the $2,000,000 by giving them a share of the sales tax generated over a period of years. Cole says, “It is a subsidy paid out of tax revenue we wouldn’t otherwise get”. Does Mr Cole not know, or is he simply stupidly ignoring the fact that any sales by Best Buy would simply mean a sale not made by other stores in Ventura, so the sales tax that he says we “otherwise wouldn’t get” is not entirely true, we would have gotten it somewhere else and not had to share it with anybody.
In 2009 Best Buy opened 285 stores and acquired 2,414 stores in Europe. The City of Ventura can’t even keep it’s streets and parks in good shape and these “Fat Cats” want us to subsidize them. There has never in the history of Ventura been a time when the Gang in the Ivory Tower even considered giving a “subsidy” to a “small business owner” that wanted to open a restaurant, gift store, ice cream parlor, or any other type of small business, they only want to give to the “Fat Cats”.
If this isn’t a perfect reason to vote “NO” on their sales tax increase rip off, I certainly don’t know when a more perfect reason will come along.
Rellis Smith
rellis39@sbcglobal.net
www.venturanow.web.officelive.com