Don’t punish the needy survivors who recycle, reduce landfill load, Last Monday morning as I drove through Pacific Beach, I noticed several people looking through the cans on the curbs, hoping to find recyclable items with cash value. It’s a sign of our current economic distress: some families and individuals are so desperate that they are willing to do this dirty and humiliating work in order to put food on their tables. What sort of a sign is it, then, that the PB Town Council is trying to get us to help enforce San Diego’s “no scavenging” law? These people aren’t trying to get rich; they’re only trying to survive. And in the process, they’re helping reduce the load on our landfills. We owe them not punishment but thanks. Catherine Thiemann Pacific Beach Marijuana dispensaries will just bring in other types of crime We feel strongly that the stores selling marijuana in Pacific Beach, and other local communities, must be stopped. The opening of any additional stores selling marijuana must also be stopped before our community is overwhelmed with drug addicts. None of these stores are following state guidelines regarding how marijuana is provided to real patients. Police statistics from other areas show that when these stores open, crime in the neighborhood increases. Crime increases because the other illegal trades that follow drugs come to rob homes in order to pay for addicts’ habits. We are very afraid for the youth of our community since they will frequent these stores and then pass the habit on to other students. Our neighbor, Mexico, has made it very visible what happens when selling marijuana begins. It is not long before hard illegal drugs follow. This community does not wish to become the heart of the drug trade of San Diego. Don’t just form a task force to “study” the issue. Start issuing some regulations that will allow the police to close down these illegal shops. Gerald and Bozier Demaree Pacific Beach Don’t give up on PB I’m sad to see the letters about drinking at Kate Sessions Park that say PB used to be a place where people wanted to live and stay to raise a family. I’ve personally made numerous sacrifices to stay here in PB and raise my kids here. My friends have made similar choices and have told me time and again that they wouldn’t choose to live anywhere else. I understand that there are times that living here can be less than ideal. My home is flanked on each side by condos full of young men in their 20s and early 30s who have more parties than I might wish. Emotionally throwing in the towel and concluding that PB is ruined is not a healthy reaction, however. I have engaged my neighbors as people — I wait until we meet when there is not a party going on and talk to them about what arrangement for parties and noise will be reasonable for everyone concerned. My neighbors with a band have agreed not to practice after 8:30 p.m. and spent time and money to better soundproof their practice space. My other neighbors agreed that parties on Friday and Saturday are reasonable and weeknight parties are grounds for calling the police. Homeowners, people with kids, others like me: remember that people in their 20s and 30s are still human beings like you. Engage them with respect and the majority of them will be open to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement about parties and noise. As for the ones who just won’t listen: call the police, call the police, call the police. Get that place CAPPed. Dave Anderson Pacific Beach