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Sunday's letters: A better option for treating pain

 
Published Sept. 5, 2014

Why they smoke | Aug. 31, Perspective

Better option for managing pain

As a premed student at the University of Florida, I was intrigued by the Tampa Bay Times' articles discussing the potential risks and benefits of medical marijuana use. In states where medical marijuana has been legal for more than five years, overdose deaths from opioids have decreased by as much as 33 percent, according to results published in JAMA Internal Medicine.

Providing physicians with an alternative pain management method will prove beneficial to patients with intolerable pain. It will also decrease addiction and potentially death caused by the current options available. Politicians should not come between a physician and his or her patients, and voting to approve medical marijuana use in Florida will help decrease the anguish of those battling illness.

Irene "Rosie" Posada, Tampa

Greenlight needs a push | Aug. 31, Tim Nickens column

For transit initiative, focus on economic issues

Tim Nickens is trying to be logical with people who refuse to accept logic. As a board member for the Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, I see the same negative thinkers every month at board meetings spouting the same complaints. They will not be convinced by logic. For Greenlight Pinellas to be approved, here are some factors that, hopefully, will motivate them to pay attention:

1. Your children will leave the area. Our economy in Pinellas County is based on tourism and service industries. We have excellent higher education institutions. When our children graduate from these institutions, they will find few high-paying jobs available locally. Therefore, they will look elsewhere for employment and move away. We are facing a "brain drain" in Pinellas, and it will get worse unless we take action.

In my case, my wife and I have only one of our seven children and only one of our eight grandchildren living in Pinellas, and our son (a public school teacher) and our daughter-in-law (an ultrasound technician) who do live here are considering moving to Portland or Seattle for better job opportunities. Interestingly, both of these cities have integrated transportation networks.

2. Your house will not appreciate. Without good-paying jobs to attract quality residents, the only people who will be able to buy a house will be cash buyers. People making $10 an hour working in retail, the hotel industry, or service sector cannot obtain a mortgage. There will be little or no competition for home purchases, and no market pressure to increase home values.

3. You may never be able to sell your house and retire. People a buy house for many reasons, but one of the main reasons is equity buildup or so-called "forced savings." If one's goal in owning a home is to eventually sell it at a reasonable price and "cash out" as part of one's retirement funding, this goal will be difficult if not impossible to reach. Cash buyers from overseas or up North will have a wide array of choices. Your home may never sell, or it may sell at such a low price your retirement plan may be placed in jeopardy.

4. You may lose your job. As the economy continues in a downward spiral, fewer employees will be needed, and existing employers may close facilities in Pinellas. Instead of growth, we may see ongoing economic decline.

I don't know if this is enough to make people motivated to help our county's economy, but these are the economic facts that Times columnist Robert Trigaux and others have alluded to in generic terms. They just haven't gotten personal enough with the "No Tax For Trax" adherents. Hopefully, these items will help to bring it home to these citizens, and they will reconsider their position.

Joseph A. Barkley III, board member, Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority, Belleair Bluffs

Cruise studies stir up waters | Aug. 31

Both sides can win

This article provides a refreshingly balanced perspective on the economic and environmental costs and benefits of cruise ship tourism for the Tampa Bay region. However, the issue is pitched as either/or: either saving jobs or saving the environment.

My colleagues and I at the University of South Florida have been studying these issues in the Caribbean for the past several years and have found that this dichotomy is a false one. The issues are complex, and there are many examples of communities that have successfully and sustainably addressed both economic and environmental needs.

Often, the solutions to these challenges have emerged from the communities themselves, not from the politicians or the scientists. We have found that when all of the stakeholders are brought together in legitimate and meaningful dialogue — and everyone has a stake in the outcome — then positive results can emerge.

I encourage all those involved in planning for mass tourism in Tampa Bay to stop talking at each other and start talking with our communities. We may just find lasting solutions to the dilemmas before us without spoiling Tampa Bay's economy and environment for centuries to come.

Dr. Christian Wells, Temple Terrace

The Lebanon precedent Aug. 30, Reading files

Face regional realities

George Friedman is right on point.

U.S. hope for democracy in Arab countries is a doomed hope at this time. There has never in the history of this planet been a true democracy where the inhabitants' loyalties are to tribes and religious identities. Democracy in a nation is only possible when there is loyalty to the nation. The Arab "nations" are artificial nations, without the necessary prerequisite of national loyalty. They are also lacking other essential requirements for democracy, but the lack of true national loyalty is enough to make democracy in Arab countries a futile effort.

President George W. Bush once said everyone wants freedom. Maybe they should, but they don't. It is an alien concept to many. We need to see the world as it is, not as we would like it to be. The United States cannot maintain the artificial nations, nor should we try.

Historically, individual freedom is a relatively recent development, primarily since the 1700s and 1800s. And it is primarily a Western concept that is not in synch with the fundamental values of many Arabs. We cannot expect them to simply embrace our values.

In the meantime, we need to face the reality of the multiple power structures in the area. Amerli is a case in point. Our bombers teamed with Shiite militias, supported by Iran, to battle ISIS.

Joe Crites, Clearwater