Dear Editor:
I really wanted to stay out of this debate on whether or not Meeker should have a marijuana shop, but I think something should be said.
Larry Steiner has plenty of support in this town, not only for his proposed business plan, but for his great character as a resident of Meeker.
The religious extremists should do their research and get their facts straight before throwing stones.
A decision on small business for this town should not be decided on the opinion of any religion groups. This is a local government decision. That being said, I think the decision made by members of the Meeker Town Board of not going forward on Mr. Steiner’s proposal without proper research and fact checking was a disservice to the community.
We are talking about a legal money-making business.
Our town of Meeker is failing in many ways—education, commerce, tourism, etc. I am not saying that marijuana is the cure for this, but it would definitely not hurt for some growth of any business in this town.
I hear a lot throughout town, “We don’t want to be a Boulder, Steamboat, Glenwood Springs…” That is fine. We are far from being any of those towns. We would need a lot more than a marijuana shop to become those towns.
Without ski resorts, a university, small business, a functional educational system and progressive thinking, we have a long way to go before that happens.
We are fortunate to have people like Larry, who are willing to take a chance on a community that is dying rapidly. Please, for the town officials and the citizens of this community, don’t let the uninformed and close-minded ban any more business plans going forward. I don’t think we can afford it.
There are still laws out there saying marijuana cannot be smoked in public or purchased by customers under 21. It sounds a lot like our alcohol laws.
In closing, I hope that our town board stays open-minded on any business growth that comes this way in the future.
Josh Halstead
Meeker
