Letters to the editor Oct. 3

Harry Reid stepped up for the little guy

After having retired from San Diego, Calif., and moving to Nevada in 1988, I discovered that the state of California was taking California income taxes from my retirement.

I, along with others from California, contacted Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and he put a bill through Congress to prohibit California from taking taxes when we no longer live in California.

I don't know the amount, but I'm sure it saved me many thousands of dollars over the past 22 years.

Thanks, Harry, for looking out for the little guy. You will always have my vote. Good luck in November.

Bob Carnett

Carson City

Carson City loses great friend in Al Teixeira

It is with a heavy heart that I note the passing of Al Teixeira.

Al was one heck of a man. Through my 34 years in the construction industry in Carson City, I got to know Al as an excellent representative for Sierra Pacific and an outstanding individual.

We all owe him gratitude for the time he donated to Carson High School and other sports complexes around town - hanging from a bucket 100 feet up in the air installing or adjusting lights so the area's youth would have a better facility.

He was a great inspiration and friend to many adults and kids alike. He will be missed but not forgotten. Our thoughts are with the Teixeira family.

Carson City has lost a great friend.

Tim Smith

Carson City

Nevada needs medical marijuana dispensaries

Out of curiosity, I decided to look into Nevada's medical marijuana program. The two diseases I will battle for life cause me extreme pain daily. It will eventually leave me crippled and/or with a lifetime of joint replacements. The medications I take to fight these diseases leave me nauseated almost every day. So I thought to myself, "Why not look into it and see what it might do for me?"

I can qualify just fine for the program. While I can qualify to grow the marijuana - which I can't; brown doesn't begin to describe my thumbs - there are no dispensaries in Nevada where I can purchase this particular medication. Other states' dispensaries do not recognize Nevada's program. Without dispensaries, I am left with only the option of buying it illegally; which of course I would never do.

Although the program exists and might well work for me - I would honestly rather smoke marijuana in the evenings than be taking most of these medications and tied to pharmaceutical companies for life - I won't be able to find out. Marijuana could likely be the least lethal medication I ingest for my particular situation. But because of a lack of dispensaries or any apparent drive to create them in Nevada, I, and many others like me, cannot obtain this service.

I ask why? Why, if Nevada has already legalized the use of medical marijuana, are there no legal means by which to purchase it?

Michelle Lewis

Carson City

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