Stanley Torres had the initiative (some may say “the dementia”) to publicly state the ubiquitousness and relative harmlessness of marijuana. He took to the soapbox and opened a debate on how decriminalization or legalization could possibly be used to benefit the commonwealth. I personally consider it to be the single most intelligent idea Stanley has ever had.
But what happened? It was laughed aside, mostly because it was Stanley who brought it up, his insistence that it would attract tourists and his main motivation was, of course, money. Except for a wonderful letter to the Variety by Jim Rayphand about the medical benefits of cannabis, the issue is now dead. And it shouldn’t be, because it’s still an incredibly good idea for more reasons than can be listed here.
Or consider Ambrose Bennett’s idea to pass (and vigorously enforce) strict, mandatory sentences for violent crimes and crimes against tourists? Of the online comments, every reaction was a personal attack on the admittedly self-aggrandizing Bennett. But is a perfectly logical idea is being tossed aside just because it’s being introduced by a guy that everybody is just plain tired of hearing from? “Just ignore the message because we don’t like the messenger”? That’s not only absurd, it’s a recipe for disaster.
The Good Lord only knows what happened to MV online commentator JoseRizal to turn him into the hatred spewing, God-hater that he is. Everything he writes is blasphemy. It is mostly off topic and almost always mean. But how does JoseRizal’s rudeness excuse the church, OUR CHURCH, the very pillar of our community, from raping our children? What kind of argument is that? “That guy on the internet, that guy’s a real @&$#*{!. So it doesn’t matter that he’s right about rampant rape of children going on all over the place.” That’s horrible! Where is the indignation? Why aren’t people demanding investigations, excommunications and indictments?
I have lived on Saipan long enough to know that I’ll never be a local. I have also lived away from Saipan long enough to know how badly I want to move back. But when I read of the tack my beloved Saipan is taking, it makes me scratch my chin and squint.
MATT WERTZ
Dhaka, Bangladesh
