Note to out-of-towners: Leave parenting to me

I am writing to address concerns brought up by an organized group of moral crusaders from out of town who attended the village meeting in Mundelein on Sept. 9.

Invoking the "think about the children" scare tactic is an argument made in bad faith. Children currently do not have legal access to cannabis, and that will not change after Jan. 1. That is not to say that children currently do not have any access at all. However, next year, any access they do have will continue to be illegal, just as it is today.

That means individuals who divert legal cannabis to minors in a similar manner to legal alcohol can and will face the repercussions for their actions. These are acts that are conducted by individuals, and not the licensed and regulated companies that will sell cannabis to adults over the age of 21.

If we're concerned about the safety of our younger residents, then why are we driving a responsible company out of our community only to create a vacuum to be filled by black market dealers who won't check IDs? Do we honestly think that denying legal sales within our town to the 99.999% of people who will not provide that cannabis to minors is going to be an effective solution to a problem that already exists before those sales have begun?

As a parent of two Mundelein children, I am going to approach this issue with my kids the same way I'm doing it with legal alcohol, legal tobacco and legal gambling: By talking with them and educating them on the risks and pitfalls that accompany any potentially habitual vice. Therefore, I kindly request that any outsiders who show up to future town meetings please leave the parenting of my own children to me.

Scott Jackson

Mundelein