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February 12, 2013 <br /> <br />Mayor Stephen Cassidy <br />835 E. 14th St. <br />San Leandro, CA 94577 <br /> <br />Re: Medical Marijuana Dispensary Proposal <br /> <br />Dear Mayor Cassidy, <br />I want to thank you for serving the residents and businesses of San Leandro as our mayor. As an educator <br />and citizen of San Leandro, I am writing to you to express my strong opposition to the proposal to allow <br />the licensing of medical marijuana facilities to do business in the city of San Leandro. While I am <br />sympathetic to a patient who is undergoing serious medical issues (I live with a painful, incurable medical <br />condition) and a physician’s desire to help ease the discomfort of the patient’s ailments, I think it is <br />important to separate a physician-patient issue from that of the allowance of a marijuana dispensary <br />facility being allowed to do business in San Leandro. <br /> <br />Allowing this type of facility into San Leandro will greatly encourage increased crime including armed <br />robberies, burglaries, drug dealing, murders, domestic violence, crimes against minors, and other violent <br />crimes. In addition, the allowance of this type of facility will be a cause for potential structural fires, <br />increase in traffic, loitering and noise. The fiscal impact on our Police and Fire Departments and the <br />safety of our police officers and firemen should cause every citizen of San Leandro to oppose this <br />proposal. The legalization of medical marijuana facilities also increases the potential for more drivers <br />being on the road who will be driving while under the influence of marijuana. <br /> <br />Allowing this type of facility into San Leandro will also encourage use of this substance among minors <br />which could lead to possible substance abuse and other long term health problems for these minors as <br />they get older. As a local educator, I cannot condone the legalization of medical marijuana dispensaries in <br />our city. Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive chemical in marijuana, impacts student <br />concentration, problem-solving, decision-making, memory, perception, intelligence quotient, executive <br />functioning skills, and coordination. The potential impact on students in San Leandro should cause every <br />citizen of San Leandro to oppose this proposal. <br />The lack of rigid regulation and the many possible loopholes for the criminal element of society to <br />manipulate makes the idea of a medical marijuana facility a very negative proposition for San Leandro. <br />The amount of THC in marijuana samples confiscated by police across the nation has been increasing in <br />potency over the last two decades. Without rigid regulation, there is no oversight of the amount of THC a <br />patient may be exposed to, leaving patients at risk for adverse reactions. This impact will be seen in our <br />emergency rooms and by our police and first responders. <br />I am asking that you and our other council members not move forward with this proposal. There are <br />existing facilities in Oakland and San Lorenzo. It is not necessary to place one here in San Leandro. <br />Thank you for taking the time to review and take under consideration my request for you to oppose the <br />medical marijuana dispensary idea. <br />Sincerely, <br />Rebekah L. Kotlar