Letter to the Editor

Relax marijuana dispensary buffer

I am writing with regard to medical marijuana dispensaries in the City of Cape Girardeau. With the experience I have living just off Broadway in the city, I would welcome the dispensary to be within 200 feet of my home verses a restaurant.

Does having dispensaries close to churches and schools really matter? Would you not allow a CVS or Walgreens in those areas? Medical marijuana dispensaries are exactly the same thing except they are selling THC in another form. If you have ever visited a dispensary (Colorado) you will find a very legally run facility. From the outside it looks like any other storefront you can see in America. When you come into the door it is all business. Your legal ID must be scanned and verified. You must be of legal age. Only one person at a time is allowed to enter the actual sales area where you discuss your needs one to one with the employee or bud tender as they are called in Colorado. You are allowed to buy a specified amount, and you are done. The bud tenders are very knowledgeable and professional as a registered pharmacist is about medications you may take every day. Two hundred feet? Please allow this new business into Cape with grace and the respect deserved.

PAMELA GRIMES, Cape Girardeau