By Donna Westfall – January 26, 2017 – As I walked in late at 6:15 am to laughter and camaraderie this morning to 
join Bob Berkowitz at Fisherman’s Restaurant, there was a raucous debate about commercially growing marijuana, where to deposit funds locally in a bank that will accept money from marijuana growers, how to tax it; and definitions of words. This is what I learned this morning:
Colloquy – “a formal conversation” – This word was used on the dais by Supervisor 1st District. Roger Gitlin, when he and Supervisor 5th District, Bob Berkowitz, engaged in a colloquy about committee assignments at the Board of Supervisors meeting January 25th. They traded assignments which was generally approved by the board.
How many years is a SCORE? As in “four score and seven years ago.” A score is 20 years. Guesses included 10 and 12.
How do you pronounce tinnitus (ringing in your ears)? Still under debate.
If a “couple” is two, how many is a “few.” Answer. More than a couple.
My take on the conversation about commercial marijuana grows boils down to the word “raucous” which means making or constituting a disturbingly harsh and loud noise. Synonyms: harsh, strident, discordant. Meaning of synonyms: is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language. One position was set in stone. “NO! It’s a poison, it’s a drug. I am against it. Not today, not tomorrow and not ever.” Other positions were more open-minded describing things like the medical benefits.
The waitress was kind enough to take the picture.
Alex Fallman, Crescent City Councilman, joked about not being quoted before sunrise. It was still black outside.
Roger Gitlin, Your 1~28~17 comment refering to my 1~31~17 comment just appeared on 2~3~17 ~ you replied to my comments before I wrote them. I pay quite a bit of attention to what I read & also to statements that are incorrect, such as you mixing up the functions of the FDA with those of the DEA. As far as “slowing down that cannabis express”of your comment~WHAT? I do not grow cannabis, or use it to supplement my income. My cannabis reference was about when I had stage 4B Hodgkin”s Lymphatic Cancer & marijuana use with chemotherapy. Your intense ideaology has a tendancy to use personal beliefs as facts~alternative facts. California is NOT bankrupt. CAL is the 5th largest economy in the World &13 per cent of US GDP. As to the Triplicate ~ MarkTwain “never pick a fight with someone who buys ink by the barrel.” What bothers me is that you use drama & ideaology as a substitute for accuracy. 28,000 vs 1/56th, or DN total population vs per centage who voted for you. Might be you who needs to slow down!
To be accurate~a colloquay is “the mutual discourse of two or more people”; ‘a conversation”, “short discourses between related subjects of thought.” It is not confined to being “formal.” Roger, Rx prescriptions are enforced & investigated by the Drug Enforcement Agency {DEA} not the FDA. The Food and Drug Administration {FDA} approves the public use of & proven validity of chemical substances for human or animal use; or the foods available to same. Every Rx has a prescriber signature and their DEA number that authorizes approval to write scripts. Samuel~ observations on the smell of cooking oil are not about environmental concerns, but rather the taste it imparts to food cooked in that oil. I have enough taste for food quality to own a complete set of cordon bleu cookware. Admit to being picky about food due to having lived in San Fransisco several decades ago. I do not think “deplorables” is a proper word to describe living things, but must say that you come across as a bit frumpy.
And to think, if this was the Triplicate we wouldn’t be having this delightful conversation. “Deplorables”, is a term used by Hillary Clinton in the last election to describe people with whom she did not agree with politically, not something I would use to describe any one. I can be “a bit frumpy” if you wish, but some how I don’t think many would recognize me as such.
Samuel, et al sometimes it’s fun to dip into the alternative reality world of you CC Times regular contributors . I don’t know the Editor of the Triplicate~have never spoken to him, but am starting to realize why he put restraints on contributors to the Triplicate. At least the Triplicate has a corrections box & admits its mistakes. #1California is not bankrupt~it is the 5th largest economy in the world, 13 per cent of total US GDP #2 That “stagnant oil” issue was on a professional dining web page~hope they took care of that~not trying to ruin their biz. #3 plagarism seems to be rampant with several contributors. Actually, it seems that some of you would benefit from Xanax. As to marijuana, am sure AG KKK Sessions will try to take care of that within a few months. Am betting most of you anti~marijuana folks use alcohol on a frequent basis. I had stage 4B Hodgkin’s Disease with 3 months to live 45 yrs ago, the Nitrogen Mustard Gas chemo was killing me~don’t tell me marijuana has no medical value!
Lin, Lin, slow the cannabis express down there a bit. Yes, the Triplicate has a corrections box, but that only reflects what the Triplicate thinks are mistakes. Kind of like the fox in the hen house deciding which chicken it is going to eat. The chicken doesn’t get much of a say in the matter. As far as the restrictions go that is a lot like a dictator deciding what happens in his world, not the free and open exchange of ideas, no matter how crazy they may seem. It is up to the public to say what is appropriate and comment on that kind of thinking, not be closed down by a my way or the highway kind of editor. How would you like to be refused publication because your writing doesn’t meet the personal agenda of an editor. You have not faced that with the Triplicate because he occupies the same more or less progressive space that you do.
As far as the rest of your rant, you really need to be more careful about what you read. More often than not you complain about things in the Times or else where for that matter, that reflect liberal/progressive talking points which quite regularly are shown to to be incorrect or something other than reported. You really need to broaden your horizons a bit.
I do not drink alcohol in any real sense of the word nor do I imbibe in cannabis. I do not have a particular position on the subject with respect to myself beyond that. I do know that cannabis like alcohol can be a health issue more extensive than what the cannabis world reports. Events in Colorado over the past couple of years will confirm that statement. If it works for you, more power to you. I just hope since it is legal according to the State of California that we avoid the problems thus far being experienced in Colorado, but sad to say human nature will probably do in that hope.
Thank you, Jesse for your ” clarification” on my position. On commercial cannibus and drugs, I say NO MORE DRUGS! If there is an Rx out there which has been vetted through the FDA, an Rx which will improve one’s quality of life, of course I”m in full support of the Rx. I have good health today because of methotrexate which controls my dormant Rheumatoid Arthritis. Other than giving the user a temporary euphoric state and portal to the next level up of another poison drug, I see no value in endorsing cannibis other than filling the insatiable revenue needs of a bankrupt State of California.
So now the Fisherman is on your radar for offense to the environment over “stagnant cooking oil”. I guess some people just do not have any sense of propriety. Is everyone who might just enjoy patronizing the Fisherman some how a lesser person, and should some how be “shamed” by your observations to take their business else where? I suppose there is just no accounting for taste. The “deplorables” just have no shame in this County and just may not share your opinion.
The coffee is just fine at the Fisherman’s. I suggested that Del Norte is ready to embrace commercial cannabis in a smart way. Boy, you’ve been hitin’ the devil’s lettuce! If I had thin skin I would have fled bleeding. Bob is not joking when he says ‘be prepared for feedback’. I hope that Roger makes clear what his plan is for dealing with the reality of commercial cannabis. When he says ‘no, not now, not ever’ I can only assume he wants to keep things the way they are now, or step up enforcement funding to arrest more people and destroy more crops. Neither of these things make sense to me, morally or practically. I think it would be political suicide for Roger to stand at a podium before the public and say what he said Thursday morning about his position on cannabis. It sounded just like Barbara Streisand talking about gun control. Without education, cannabis will be misused and abused in the same way as other human inventions. I think we can out smart this plant and MAKE CANNABIS GREAT AGAIN!
Roger explained his position to me in writing and I have taken to heart much of what he had to say. I now regret my Streisand reference. Roger is very honest, passionate, and cares a lot about bettering society. I respect his resolve. This has inspired an idea about Del Norte leading the way in low THC, non-psychoactive, cannabis varieties that are rich in life saving CBD compounds. These varieties have little black market street value and are in high demand among the medical industry. Live crops on the farm can be easily tested to confirm the low THC levels, then we could focus on small scale manufacturing of pharmaceutical grade CBD compounds. This could be a multi-tiered economic benefit to the county and city that does much more good for people than harm. This approach could have wide ranging support from every interest in the county. We can start production this year, say ‘NO’ to drugs and ‘YES’ to saving and changing lives with real medicine. The science and technology is here now, let’s give incentive to those who are willing to sacrifice short term profit for long term benefit to society. Thank you Roger for this inspiration, if we can make this a reality then you will have been instrumental in saving lives and truly making cannabis great again!
My two youngest children~ now adults~were visiting several months ago and my son was buying dinner. All the dining places were crowded as it was summer. We were by the marina so I suggested the Fisherman. It seems the internet ranks eating places plus takes comments from previous customers. Reports on the Fisherman said it reeks of cooking oil that is not changed often enough. I told my children that lots of people go there and it couldn’t possibly smell like that. So my son drove to the Fisherman, parked his car, we got out of the car and the smell of stagnant cooking oil permeated he outside air. So I guess all I have to say about that is those early am patrons who discuss things such as the meaning of words and the problem of dangerous poison marijuana should maybe worry about their sense of smell and the coffee they are drinking.
If you would like to contribute to the conversation or to get your point across, I invite you to join us at the Fisherman Restaurant every weekday morning at 6am. It is your opportunity to talk to one or two county supervisors in an unscripted discussion where you can say anything you want about any topic you want, but be prepared to have feedback.
At a supervisor’s meeting you would have on only 3 minutes to present your views, here you have an hour to have a dialogue.
So, you can never say, the supervisors don’t listen to me. The entire objective of these meetings is for us to listen to you.