Letters: Recreational marijuana requires a cautious approach; Scouting for Food delivered for those in need
Recreational marijuana requires a cautious approach
As the governor searches for more revenue, we will be implored to accept recreational marijuana and its magical tax revenue as the latest solution to quench the money thirst. I suggest that Pennsylvania take a cautious approach and watch our neighbor, New Jersey, which passed a referendum to implement this. As a libertarian, I don’t care if you put peanut butter in your veins. However, don’t make the rest of us pay for your recreation. Most Pennsylvania employers require drug testing prior to employment and during employment. Craft labor unions, utilities, petrochemical, pharmaceuticals, truck driving and most other jobs leading to the middle class lifestyle screen for drug use. Recreational users will not be excused when they fail a random drug test. So where will the governor have them work? If they cannot be employed in middle class jobs then they will be unlikely to have careers with health care, retirement and other benefits. Taxpayers will then be the crutch that they and their families use for health care, subsidized lunches, food banks and the myriad of aid provided by a generous public. So while there may be perceived individual benefits to getting high, the costs, in poor outcomes for families and children, will be socialized and paid by all of us. If you are using marijuana for recreation be ready to pay for the privilege, don’t impose the cost on the rest of us. Let’s watch the Garden State for a while.
Scouting for Food delivered for those in need
The Scouting program has been serving our youth and providing community service in the Centre County for well over 100 years. No other youth program does more to teach leadership, self confidence, love of the outdoors and the importance of giving back, than the Scouting organization. In 1989 the Scouting for Food program was started to collect much needed food for our area food banks and pantries. Earlier this month, hundreds of Scouts and adult volunteers fanned out across our neighborhoods and distributed over 50,000 door hangers to promote Scouting for Food. We also stepped up our efforts to publicize and raise the awareness of the event with various media outlets. The response and results were amazing, as we saw an over 60% increase in the amount of food collected last week compared to last year, with over 43,000 pounds donated and collected for the State College Area Food Bank. Additional food was collected outside of State College that will help fill the shelves of other area food banks and pantries as well. I am so proud of how our Scouts and leaders contributed hundreds of hours of community service, and thanks to all who donated food. Finally, there are many quality Cub Packs and Scout Troops in our area that would welcome new girl and boy members. For information, please contact the Juniata Valley Council website at www.jvcbsa.org
GOP leaders should defend votes, save tax dollars
The website The Hill reports that “President Trump’s campaign filed a lawsuit on Wednesday over election results in Pennsylvania, arguing that he should be named the winner in the battleground state and that the GOP-controlled state legislature should be given the authority to assign its electoral votes.” This lawsuit, in which the GOP declares they have no evidence, is aimed at overturning the results of the election. This is what happens in dictatorships, not democracies. The chair of the Centre County Board of Elections is a Republican, Steve Dershem, who signed the certification of the votes declaring a free and fair election and verifying the vote count. Now Trump and his GOP enablers would overturn that very same vote. This is costing all of us our tax dollars at a time when most can ill afford that given the COVID pandemic. Why don’t GOP Senate Majority Leader Jake Corman and GOP House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff defend your votes and save our tax dollars by standing up for democracy? Why aren’t they working on measures that help stem the spread and economic impacts of COVID? Are they so feckless that not your vote nor your money nor your health mean anything to them?