At the mercy of criminals and city councils

I have been asked a few times recently if I have received a Ten Day Warning/Eviction Notice from Housing Authority of Grant County due to having my freedom banner on my balcony railing. I have not, and I seriously doubt I will, at least not before Housing Authority personnel would first take an interest in stopping those who grow, process, and/or sell marijuana products out of their apartments here.

I do not want to see anyone hassled, busted, et cetera over cannabis; however, I do not think it is fair for such individuals to receive low-income-based public housing assistance while not being required to report their clandestine income dollars.

In addition, I spend most of my days up here in my apartment without even a bud to smoke (despite having suffered severe physical damage to my body over the years) because the “Gangland Pricing Structure” far exceeds what I can spend on cannabis products, medically helpful or not, while living on Social Security Disability income.

As a disabled person and a constitutional rights activist, I never thought that I would be at the mercy of criminals with their gangland prices, and local city councils’ “moratoriums” against legal medical patients and cannabis businesses (whether such businesses are for medical purposes or not).

After medical marijuana use was legalized by a vote of the people, I truly believed that these things would change for the better. Thanks in a large part to these city council moratoriums, the criminal element is free to continue to tell legitimate medical patients such as myself, “Too bad if you hurt … This is a For Profit endeavor!”

Tom Hawkins

Grand Coulee