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Our opinion: Pursue medical marijuana safety

Legislation backed by state Rep. Kathy Rapp creating more oversight of the state’s medical marijuana program should receive consideration soon in the state Legislature. Bill sponsor Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Pittsburgh, said House Bill 33 would give the state Department of Health the authority to oversee the labs that currently test marijuana products to determine their contents and safety to consumers. The goal, said Frankel, is to ensure product integrity by establishing oversight through audit testing, quality assurance testing, data transparency and inspections. Reports the past two ...

Our opinion: Pursue medical marijuana safety

Legislation backed by state Rep. Kathy Rapp creating more oversight of the state’s medical marijuana program should receive consideration soon in the state Legislature. Bill sponsor Rep. Dan Frankel, D-Pittsburgh, said House Bill 33 would give the state Department of Health the authority to oversee the labs that currently test marijuana products to determine their contents and safety to consumers. The goal, said Frankel, is to ensure product integrity by establishing oversight through audit testing, quality assurance testing, data transparency and inspections. Reports the past two ...

Our opinion: Tax change good in long run

Warren County’s change to split tax bills is a step in the right direction even if it comes with some short-term pain for county residents. Any system that results in regular borrowing to pay for regular bills — even at zero or no interest — is a system that needs to change. Free money doesn’t stay free forever, and county officials have seen over the past few years what happens when you have to pay regular bills with borrowed money. It costs more. We have clung to one tax bill for local, school and county property taxes for long enough. Warren County is the last county in ...

Our opinion: Decision was worth the wait

After years of lawsuits, court proceedings and, finally, asking for the federal government to intercede, Old Order Amish families in Sugar Grove Township can use their privies. It seems like a trivial matter to many of us. Who would rather go outside on some of our frigid days to use the bathroom than connect to a municipal sewer and add some comfort to life? It turns out, the Old Order Amish. As part of their long-held religious beliefs the Old Order Amish choose not to use electricity, instead using natural gas or windmills to power things they use every day. The grinder used in ...

Our opinion: Center shines in dark cases

Three times in a week police filed pretty disturbing child sex charges against county residents. Obviously, those who have been charged are innocent until proven guilty in court. But one thing that was evident from the affidavits of probable cause in all three cases was the importance of the work done by the Warren Child Advocacy Center. The center was involved in all three cases, providing a place for children who said they were sexually assaulted with a trained staff to help them deal with situations most families can’t even imagine. When there are allegations of child abuse or ...

Our opinion: Americans can send message

ByteDance, a Chinese firm that the federal government says is essentially a front for the Chinese government, owns the popular social media platform TikTok, which is used by an estimated 170 million Americans. That’s a national security threat, says Congress, which last year passed a law giving ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell the platform or shut it down. ByteDance sued to stop the ban, but the U.S. Supreme Court this month upheld the ban. President Donald Trump, who took his oath of office this month, vowed to use executive authority to save the app. The government was wrong to ...