Don Merrill's recent letter to the editor in the Record-Bee makes me shake my head and wonder what dimension active supporters of Measure D live in.

In each and every article and letter the opponents of Measure D have written or debated on in the newspapers and online, they have repeatedly cited specific examples of the damage Measure D can do.

Instead of counteracting these claims with any semblance of a sound argument the supporters of Measure D choose to stick with yelling, “Lies, deceit, exaggerations!” without pointing out the lies and arguing them with any real argument of substance. Read Merrill's letter thoroughly again to see my point.

Not once in print or online have they chosen to point out any flaws in our argument.

We, on the other hand – opponents of this badly written measure – have copied and pasted right out of the measure and shown how they've underhandedly and deceitfully opened up every zone, whether it be environmentally sensitive or not, to growing marijuana.

We have repeatedly told them that we are not trying to take away medicine from sick people, but that falls on deaf ears. They keep insinuating that we are stopping sick people from getting medicine. False!

In truth no one ever had any problems getting their hands on marijuana. The supply has never really been an issue – smoking it legally as medicine was the issue.

We want marijuana to be successfully grown for people who really need it but this cleverly written measure would allow drugs for profit by piggybacking in on the medical issue.

In the last two weeks eight new farms have popped up in the hills behind Nice without regard to the damage they do. These sensitive areas will not be stopped by Measure D.

Now I challenge you, show us where in Measure D it limits the zones it can be grown in – you cannot. It does not limit the zones to where marijuana be grown. They can grow in timberland preserves or environmental sensitivity areas.

Yet they keep accusing us of lies and exaggerations. It would benefit you if you could truly debate us on issues rather than hyperbole and stop your deceit.

From Measure D:

72A.2 Definitions

(a) Parcel: A specific plot of land in Lake County designated by the Lake County Assessor with an Assessor's Parcel Number, or APN.

(b) Zoning Districts: “A” is Agricultural District; “APZ” is Agricultural Preserve District; “R1” is Single Family Residential District; “R2” is Two-Family Residential District, “RL” is Rural Lands District; “RR” is Rural Residential District; “SR” is Suburban Reserve District; and “TPZ” is Timberland Preserve District.

(c) Agricultural Land: Those land areas specifically zoned as APZ, A, TPZ, RL and RR ...

72A.3 Uses Permitted

1. Cultivation of medical marijuana is an allowed use outdoors on parcels within the R1, R2, SR, RR, RL, A, APZ and TPZ base zoning districts. Cultivation authorized by this Section is subject to the following criteria:

Measure D is just a smokescreen. Vote no on D.

Greg Cornish lives in Nice, Calif.