I’ve spent the past 10 years working as a chaplain, in both the ER of a level 1 inner-city trauma unit and as a hospice chaplain. I’ve seen unspeakable pain and suffering. I’ve worked with medical professionals who diligently try to minimize others’ pain and save lives.

A few Town Council members must be unaware there is a serious drug crisis destroying families and killing young people at alarming rates. The dispensary will prove to be yet one more source for young people to acquire marijuana. Now they have more hours in which to do so. A medical marijuana dispensary is not a pharmacy. Pharmacies don’t run specials on prescription drugs. Pain killers don’t have names like “Lemon Skunk Diesel,” “Mother’s Helper” or “Trainwreck.”

Shelly Mowrey, director of the Fountain Hills Coalition, emphasized that 25 percent of local high school students get their marijuana from cardholders. Sixty percent of kids who smoke marijuana before the age of 15 move onto cocaine (Time).

A recent report from The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse found that, since the early 1990s, students using marijuana daily has more than doubled. Use of drugs like cocaine and heroin is up 52 percent.

There is an ironic juxtaposition with the conclusion of the dispensary story in the May 27 Fountain Hills Times on page 10A with the high school graduation photos right above it. Page 11A was filled with photos and stories about kids, graduations and a photo of elementary students titled, “Character counts.”

Where is the character of the council members who voted to increase the dispensary’s hours? Think about this when you go to the polls. It was my understanding the council implements policy that protects the “health, safety and well-being” of our community. The council reportedly compromised. They compromised far more than they can imagine. What a terrible disappointment.