Instead of trampled grasses, shredded vegetation, fouled stream water and cow pies with flies buzzing around them everywhere, I was greeted with a lush, verdant meadow. I couldn't believe it was the same place.
Cattle grazing should no longer be allowed on public land. If ranchers wish to let their livestock run free and graze on open range, let it be on their own property (and preferably downstream from towns and cities).
Chuck Warren
Thousand Oaks
Rand's rebuttal
Re "Putting pot in its place," Editorial, Sept. 24
The Rand Corp. study does not rest on a "large and unwarranted assumption" that all medical marijuana dispensaries ordered to close on June 7, 2010 did so.
Our analysis assumes only that some dispensaries closed on June 7, and uses a standard research approach designed to yield conservative estimates. To the extent that some dispensaries refused to close, our study approach would have detected no change in crime around these defiant locations compared to those allowed to remained open. Thus our peer-reviewed results probably understate the true effects.
The impacts we identified were short term, as the study clearly noted. Whether they persist is an important issue, but it was infeasible to study because of changes in enforcement of the ordinance. The short-run observations are available for readers to consider, with the knowledge that the methods used were consistent with well-accepted scientific practices.
Mireille Jacobson
Santa Monica
The writer is a senior economist at Rand Corp.
Sign this bill
Re "Capitol's wild night can mean headache later on," Sept. 28
The Times' story regarding my legislation to improve breast cancer detection (SB 791) suggests the bill received "little scrutiny;" not so.
The two-sentence notice to patients at the heart of the legislation was debated in six committee hearings and three floor sessions between Feb. 7 and Sept. 9, when the Legislature took final action.
That debate resulted in clear consensus that the effectiveness of mammography alone for women with dense breast tissue is limited and that women with this tissue should be given notice of that fact.
After seven months and extended debate, the Legislature voted (66 to 6 in the Assembly, 35 to 1 in the Senate) to require this two-sentence notice. Two sentences can save thousands of lives. Let's hope the governor signs SB 791.
Sen. Joe Simitian
(D-Palo Alto)
