I hope Gov. David Ige will not sign into law House Bill 321, the medical marijuana dispensary bill.It will be a disaster for Hawaii.

This bill isn’t simply about providing medical marijuana safely to those needing the drug.It lays a foundation for establishing multimillion-dollar marijuana businesses. I believe there is a movement by proponents of this bill to legalize marijuana usage, which federal law prohibits.

As a retired police officer, I know the laws would be unenforceable.If signed into law, it will be devastating to our Hawaiian culture, our children and grandchildren.Let’s protect Hawaii’s future generations, not leave a legacy of shame.

Jeff Yamashita
Waipahu

States sending their homeless elsewhere

A quiet war is being waged by the states, against each other.

No longer able to accommodate their growing homeless populations, states are now giving them bus, train and airline tickets to neighboring states.

Of course, if you question them, state officials will probably give the standard line out of "Mission Impossible," disavowing any knowledge of such action.

But all one has to do is check with airline flight crews who will tell you they see the homeless on the planes coming to Hawaii.

Unless we reciprocate, two things will happen.

First, it will embolden others to send their homeless here as they are not being returned.

Second, in due time, the Sand Island facility currently being proposed will not be enough; you will need an entire town to house the homeless.

Robert Lai
Keeaumoku

Swap meet policy raises suspicions

What a farce going on at the swap meet regarding re-routing pedestrian traffic to the detriment of vendors ("Pedestrian rerouting troubles swap meet merchants," Star-Advertiser, June 18).

Does anyone on the Stadium Authority Board have any business acumen?The vendorsare their best clients and represent 53 percent of stadium income, bringing in revenue somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000 a week — and this is the support given them? Unbelievable.

Suspicion arises immediately when the deputy manager has to face the music for this ill-conceived change rather than the manager himself.

Playing the "safety card" is total shibai. How many near-accidents have there been and how many delivery trucks are we talking about? Can’t deliveries be made before the swap meet opens or closes? How about coordinating with stadium staff to direct traffic when a truck arrives? They all have radios and are driving around in golf carts.

Steve Chang
Chinatown

Trade pacts have poor track record

The U.S. record on large-scale trade agreements is troubling.

When President Barack Obama signed the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement, he said it would add 70,000 jobs and increase exports by $10-$11 billion. But independent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute puts job losses at more than 75,000.

Exports to South Korea increased only $0.8 billion (a gain of 1.8 percent) and imports from South Korea soared to $12 billion (an increase of 22.5 percent).

Trade deficits with South Korea increased from $16 billion in 2012 to $27 billion in 2014.

The North American Free Trade Agreement resulted in a 2014 U.S. trade deficit with Canada of $35 billion and a trade deficit with Mexico of $53 billion, according to the U.S. Census.

So while considering the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact, go slow. The record of broken promises on such agreements is clear: We lose, they win.

Jim McDiarmid
Mililani

NextEra’s motives don’t seem pure

All the millions in self-serving advertising that Hawaiian Electric Industries and NextEra Energy have flooded the media with was exposed as mere deception by yet more evidence of NextEra’s true game plan.

Florida utility regulators’ recent approval of NextEra’s plan to invest customer-generated funds to develop its own source of natural gas from fracking belies its representation that it embraces Hawaii’s renewable energy policy ("NextEra subsidiary gets OK to put customers’ cash in gas," Star-Advertiser, June 19). It certainly won’t expedite weaning Hawaii from fossil fuels, if it is investing heavily in natural gas production at the same time.

Its rejection of rooftop photovoltaic in favor of solar farms in Florida and its domination of the state’s regulators raise the specter of a very troubling future for Hawaii, if the state Public Utilities Commission buys into the HEI-NextEra lie.

Francis M. Nakamoto
Moanalua Valley

Let’s purchase Ka Iwi mauka now

The Ka Iwi coastline from Hanauma Bay to Makapuu is a treasured scenic area for all of Oahu.

There’s a community effort underway to purchase and manage two mauka parcels across from Queen’s Beach that could face future development. This is a once-in-a lifetime opportunity. We need to raise $500,000 in public donations by Aug. 30 to buy the Ka Iwi mauka parcels to ensure that the entire coastline will be held in public hands and remain in open space.

Donations are tax-deductible. We have to meet an earlier contract deadline of $150,000 by July 5.

We are working with The Trust for Public Land, Livable Hawaii Kai Hui, the city and the state to complete the purchase.

Remember 1988, when the Sandy Beach Initiative Coalition gave Oahu voters an opportunity to choose whether to have development or open space across from Sandy Beach, and 249,000 voted 2-to-1 for open space?

This, too, is an island-wide campaign — let’s purchase Ka Iwi mauka now.

Phil Estermann
Ka Iwi Coalition