What happened to the downtown?

Re: “Cannabis dispensary is needed,” May 18, 2016

Dear Editor,

I am also a long time resident of Oshawa. I was born and raised in this city. When I was a young lad, the downtown was a family place. The downtown had things to do for the whole family. We had cinemas, department stores, grocery stores, a bowling ally, and the nearby Children’s Arena had ice we could skate on. I remember when my parents took us to the shows that were on in the afternoons while they went shopping. After, my parents took us to a restaurant, and there were plenty of them.

The downtown core was packed with families. We felt safe.

There was no methadone clinics or pot stores. Now, what is in our downtown? It is not a family friendly place to be – lots of business went other places or shut their doors.

The same diseases are around as back then, and I can remember there being no such thing as medical cannabis. I feel sorry for the people who have chronic pain or cancer. How did my generation survive without cannabis or methadone? People blame doctors for people getting hooked on pain medicine. Now, Toronto and Vancouver are shutting these dispensaries down.

So I say to my fellow correspondent that it is my view that selling this stuff is still illegal.
Arnaldo Beni