At Patch, we don't want to just give you the news. We want you to be a part of the conversation. From the discussions we have on the site we can look further into issues that impact the community—and help find solutions.

We want to hear your concerns, we like to hear your stories and of course we greatly appreciate it when you agree to disagree in a respectful manner.

So today, we'd like to recognize the commenter of the week, Diane Carlstrom.

On an article about synthetic marijuana that generated a multitude of comments, Diane wrote several comments, among them:

The prohibition of Cannabis goes far beyond what Pharma would lose if we won the battle and got it legalised. The Hemp plant can produce oil that will do anything that the oil we import will do. It can even be used to make biodegradable plastics, textiles, very lightweight and strong building materials and is an extraordinarily healthy food source. That is even before we look at how it has killed cancer and the fact that if we had legal cannabis here the pill problem would decrease big time. Why? Because legitimate users would be able to drastically cut down if not eliminate opiate drug use. Many people cut down pill and alcohol use with the assistance of cannabis. Anyone that thinks cannabis is worse than pills or alcohol needs to do some research.

The tax revenues are huge and potential jobs created are more than a few. Ah, but a big part of the DEA budget is dependent upon pot busts. There is a group called LEAP made of of law enforcement professionals that oppose prohibition. They really care about their fellow cops and citizens and what would be the best thing for all parties. http://www.leap.cc/ if Nocco joined them I would rethink my position on him. But right now he seems to be a young man on a power trip that is enchanted by some people around him.

Thank you for contributing, Diane and sparking more discussion.

There is no doubt this will be a topic that continues to be part of our community and of interest to our readers.