MAILBAG - Oct. 6, 2006

Boards well-served by Poeschl presence

Re: “Should the city’s cultural arts manager also serve on the board of local arts organizations?” (Coastline Pilot, Sept. 29). Having worked with Sian Poeschl, I think any organization would be greatly enhanced with her presence in whatever capacity.

As for any conflict, I do not believe any exists. Her working on the cultural arts board already deprives the city of one of her greatest talents — her art.

SCOTT ALAN

Laguna Beach

Civility-seekers

are undemocratic

An open letter to voters:

Recently, the four candidates for city council got together and published a letter asking that nobody make any personal attacks in the upcoming elections. For the last two years, the current council has mandated a “let’s all get along” policy among themselves, and lectured and scolded the public even during council meetings to “remain positive” and accept this agenda.

While this sounds like a reasonable and positive admonition, in truth it is undemocratic and an effort to warn away what may very well be warranted critique of council behavior. It is a lock-step mentality that ill serves a community that would be a vibrant and truly open community.

But as with so much in Laguna Beach, the myth — in this case of one big happy family — proves strong and tenacious. What is as troubling as well is that this is exactly the mentality that has prevailed in our nation’s capitol in the last six years: a deliberate and unfortunately too successful project by those in power to label anyone who is the least bit critical as unpatriotic or a terrorist-sympathizer — only in Laguna it’s called being “unneighborly.”

With so many real issues to be decided, I hope that voters and residents will not feel intimidated by this attempt by the candidates to improperly control the nature or the tone of the discussions to come.

MARY DOLPHIN

Laguna Beach

Council ‘trinity’ could halt church projects

All church expansion must be prevented.

What do George Bush and the churches in Laguna have in common? Christian hegemonic expansion at the cost of others. The egotistical disregard of the churches in this town for the constituencies they supposedly serve is inexcusable.

Weren’t all of us hopping mad when the Catholics on Temple Terrace built that giant new structure and in the process alienated the entire neighborhood with the dust, noise and traffic congestion? Doesn’t everyone remember when the Lutherans on Bluebird tried to sell themselves out by allowing Verizon to erect a repulsive cellphone tower on their property (for a healthy profit, of course)?

There is no end in sight to the efforts of the churches in this town to take more land, destroy more views, threaten more endangered species and annihilate the village atmosphere in Laguna.

Doubt that? Check out the Episcopalians’ plan to expand their famous Guild Hall or the Presbyterians’ plan to develop their facilities across a public alley and flatten a beautiful old house which that has been downtown for years.

Still puzzled? Look at the Catholics’ plan to expand their school into endangered chaparral at the expense of the gnatcatcher and more parking and circulation problems for the community while at the same time lying to us that there will be no increase in the number of students.

Thank goodness stalwarts like Anne Caenn, Anne Christoph and the Hanos have set Village Laguna against these church hegemony projects. All I can say is, I’ll be glad when Verna Rollinger is elected to the City Council so we can again find our “village voice” with an anti-expansion majority composed of Toni Iseman, Jane Egly and Verna Rollinger — all solid Village Lagunans.

Elizabeth Pearson-Schneider can’t possibly vote in support of these projects since she had to make so many concessions to get the Ssenior Ccenter built on Third Street (a stone’s throw from both the Episcopalians and the Presbyterians), and when Verna is elected, that makes it 4-1 (or better) that we can defeat these projects.

The churches’ and their members’ level of shame for their physical and hegemonic expansion in our neighborhoods at the expense of others should be Bush-esque. Shame on you! The limited good you do does not justify the trampling of others’ rights. Thank heavens for “the girls” — Iseman/Egly/Rollinger — now that’s the kind of Trinity we need to see more of.

GEORGE L. DODGSON

Laguna Beach

‘Pot’ dispensaries valuable for patients

After reading numerous article responses regarding the legalization of marijuana in local dispensaries for medicinal purposes, I am disappointed by the lack of compassion and understanding.

I was also dismayed by what appears to be a great void in the knowledge of what is going on medically in our very neighbors’ homes right within our very own community.

For many years now, marijuana has been prescribed by physicians in pill form, called marinol. Marinol® (dronabinol) is a synthetic version of a naturally occurring compound known as delta-9-THC. Delta-9-THC stimulates appetite and reduces nausea and vomiting by binding to special receptors found in your nervous system.

Patients have been using marinol for medicinal purposes not only to relieve nausea and vomiting and increase appetite but also to reduce pain, alleviate suffering and more.

As a registered nurse and former home-care business owner practicing in this community for 24 years, it is with sadness that I can clearly see the great misunderstanding that is taking place regarding the issue of marijuana for medicinal purposes, to those who might use it to alleviate their nausea, pain and suffering.

To those of you who are against the legalization of marijuana through dispensaries for the very ill, I only ask that you open your minds and your hearts as you read what I have to say. Try to see this issue from a different perspective. Imagine if the person suffering were yourself or someone you unconditionally loved, for just a moment.

There are people in our community that are living with many serious, debilitating and difficult diseases in the home. More people today are suffering in the home than the average non-medical individual could probably imagine.

These ill neighbors are of all ages, from the young to the very oldand they are dealing with some very challenging health conditions. Many of these conditions are chronic and will last all their lives. Other illnesses are acute and may last a short time. As an example, hospice patients are given six months or less to live.

Who are we to ethically determine who or who should not receive marijuana medicinally for their suffering? Why not let those who medically need it get it legally? Who are we to decide how much pain and suffering our neighbor can tolerate? Are we wearing their shoes (or slippers) on a daily basis? Is it we who sit in the wheelchair unable to feed ourselves? Is it we who lie in bed with days or weeks to live? Is it we who vomit from the effects of chemotherapy with sores in our mouths without relief? Is it we who live on a daily basis with life-threatening conditions?

Patients are being discharged from the hospital sooner than ever. In large part, this is due to hospital cutbacks, managed care, insurance-negotiated adjustments, fee for service, changes to reimbursement as dictated by Medicare, and so on. Because of this, speaking from the perspective of a medical professional, we are seeing a greater number of seriously ill patients being sent home earlier.

Some patients may require an RN in the home to run an infusion, change a dressing, insert a central line, remove stitches, manage a continuous pain pump, administer peritoneal dialysis, monitor a ventilator patient and much more. Other patients live in their homes on continuous life support, such as Christopher Reeve did.

This trend of seeing far more seriously ill patients in the home-care setting will only continue to increase. With this rise, we will have a greater number of suffering patients in the home. Families, significant others and patients themselves are ultimately left alone to cope, after help comes in and out.

Who are we to judge whether or not these people should be allowed to use marijuana legally to alleviate their pain or reduce their nausea? What is the difference between a physician prescribing morphine and/or marinol to a patient who is suffering in the home vs. the physician prescribing marijuana legally through a dispensary to this very same person?

Put yourself in their shoes or in their bed. Maybe then you might have a different opinion. You never know about life, it’s a funny thing. One day it could be you.

I would like to thank you for reading this article with open minds, eyes and hearts. I cannot change the opinions of many, but if I swayed just one person in viewing the legalization of marijuana through local dispensaries, then I will have succeeded.

LISA PETRILLI

Corona del Mar

One-way Ocean Avenue a bad idea

I was shocked to read of the traffic study by RBI Consulting to convert Ocean Avenue into a total one-way street. Have they lost their minds? This horrific idea would only make traffic congestion more of a nightmare. Can you imagine Beach Street and the impact on the downtown business area? What are they thinking? Nobody will want to visit our community, and the locals will want to stay home.

Is this idea to get a few more spaces for angled parking? Bad, bad idea.

L. GIBBS

Laguna Beach