■ With a ban, all sales of cannabis would occur in the non-regulated black market. That means no testing of the product for safety and quality, as is required for legal businesses.

■ With only a black market, there would be none of the identification checks required of legal businesses to ensure all buyers are of legal age.

■ If a ban were in place, the only legal transfer of cannabis would be through “gifting,” as the law allows you to give away up to an ounce of marijuana to another person 21 years or older. As with illegal sales, that would mean no testing of the product or ID checks for the cannabis recipients.

■ Based on my reading of the bylaws, I also believe they could be interpreted to prevent property owners from designating an area for renters to consume marijuana, or hospice centers from allowing its use in end-of-life care.

I have provided information from the federal government about the benefits and risks of cannabis, but when I asked town officials if they had a chance to look at them, none said they had. Included was the 1972 report of the Shafer Commission, formally known as the National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse, which recommended decriminalizing marijuana.

How can you decide to ban cannabis and not look at these monumental government studies? Isn’t that what people keep asking for — government testing and information? Google “Shafer Commission” before you vote if you want answers about cannabis.