Where once were surging floodwaters, now elected representatives from both the federal and state level are pouring into Western North Carolina and Haywood County, touring damaged areas, talking to local officials about needs and thanking first responders for their service to their communities.  

To the Editor:

After the proliferation of so-called THCa weed  —  weed harvested according to Trump’s farm bill to have less than 0.3% delta 9 THC at time of harvest, which experienced smokers will know is weed harvested early and therefore not fit to smoke —  finding herb in Western North Carolina has been more than a challenge. 

As the executive director of the nonprofit Pearl Institute here in Waynesville, I wanted to express my gratitude to The Smoky Mountain News for the feature story written by Cory Vaillancourt about the recent decision by the FDA to request more research into using the drug MDMA in combination with therapy to treat post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).