Opinion editor's note: Star Tribune Opinion publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

•••

It doesn't surprise us that the lead headline in Monday's Star Tribune read "THC market proves tough to monitor" and that enforcement is almost nonexistent. What else did you expect?

Just to clear up a couple of statements in the article: Delta-8 THC is less psychogenic than delta-9 THC, so it's not entirely accurate to refer to delta-8 as highly potent (unless of course, someone ingests a very large amount of it). The article also implies that 5 milligrams of THC is considered a low dose. This not a low dose for all consumers. Other states' edibles may contain anywhere from 12 to 25 milligrams of THC, yet as an article from two weeks ago reported, even 5 mg can produce a pretty good buzz to a non-regular or new user, or a serious reaction by a child.

Here is a list of other things that were not covered by the covert legalization effort for this product in Minnesota:

• Taxes.

• Treatment.

• Prevention and education.

• Workplace testing.

• Highway safety.

• Funds for monitoring and enforcement.

• Where products can be sold. (Most states mandate that THC products be sold exclusively at dispensaries and not at general stores.)

• Package health warnings (except to keep away from children).

• Limits on number of dispensaries.

• Location of dispensaries.

• Training of individuals who dispense the product.

One of the arguments that state Rep. Ryan Winkler expressed in 2020 when advancing a full commercialization bill was that Minnesota was going to be smarter than other states and do it right. An article from New York last week showed a 600% increase in emergency room and poison control calls for children eating edibles. By passing this legislation undercover and with no debate, Minnesota did it wrong.

Judson Bemis, Minneapolis

The writer is cochair of Smart Approaches to Marijuana Minnesota.

Many of us have seen memes or have read articles on the fears and anxieties millennials and Gen Z-ers face today as the cost of living dramatically increases while our student debt continues to accumulate. Born in 1998, I am sometimes categorized as a millennial, and other times I am placed in Gen Z. Either way, I too understand the life of living paycheck to paycheck due to the expenses of being an adult, such as rent, utilities, gas, groceries, etc., all while trying to make a dent in an enormous amount of student debt. I graduated college with over $100,000 of student debt and in August 2020 I joined the workforce as an RN amid the chaos of COVID-19. There was a lot going on. I was excited to become a real-life adult, live in a new city, and start my first big girl job, despite the pandemic.

That excitement didn't last as long as I had hoped. I quickly realized how heavy the weight of having such a steep negative net worth was on my own self-worth. Instead of dreaming about the future, I am stuck in the past, paying off a damning amount of debt from college. Being a nurse, I didn't expect to feel like this at all after graduation. I figured my salary would be satisfactory in paying off daily expenses as well as student loans. Now I cannot imagine buying a home. I have started to realize how impossible having children is, financially at least. And I know I am not alone. According to CBS News, student debt has "ballooned in the past two decades with Americans holding more than $1.7 trillion in student debt," thereby causing panic and apprehension in moving forward with big life decisions, like buying a house, getting married or having children.

Millennials and Gen Z-ers are stuck. The majority of us are financially unable to sustain the cost of living with our crippling amount of student debt. President Joe Biden is expected to announce soon whether he will order the forgiveness of some student debt. Many of us, including me, anxiously await this decision, since it will seal our own fate in moving forward in life.

Anna Janning, Rochester

With the recent coverage of strikes or prospective strikes locally and nationally, it seems appropriate to question whether it is time for the minimum wage to be raised at the national level and for workers to gain more rights in the labor market. Raising the federal minimum wage would create a base pay for workers that would be level with the rising cost of living.

According to the Minnesota House Research Department, there are 28,901 families receiving assistance through the Minnesota Family Investment Program, which provides assistance to low-income families, with a total of $266.6 million given to families. These are families with parents who are working and are still unable to make enough money to support their families.

Almost 4.5% of Minnesotans work at or below the minimum wage, set at $10.33 in Minnesota. Interestingly, the living wage according to MIT's living wage website puts Hennepin County at $37 for a single mother raising a child. The cost of living is not compatible with the lower wages that are being set by corporations.

Employers in this nation face little competition in the market, knowing they can pay their workers whatever they want and continue to push the narrative that people who do not accept low wages are quitters. When workers do not have policies like minimum wage laws and unions lose their power, the obvious winner is the employer, which can feel free to exploit workers for the greatest profit margins.

Jessica Anderson, St. Cloud

It is widely believed that the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton's emails, and her handling of classified information, cost her the 2016 election. Here is some of what James Comey, the FBI director at the time of the investigation, had to say regarding Clinton's email-gate:

"In looking back at our investigations into mishandling or removal of classified information, we cannot find a case that would support bringing criminal charges on these facts. All the cases prosecuted involved some combination of: clearly intentional and willful mishandling of classified information; or vast quantities of materials exposed in such a way as to support an inference of intentional misconduct; or indications of disloyalty to the United States; or efforts to obstruct justice. We do not see those things here."

The Star Tribune reported Tuesday that the government has recovered more than 300 documents with classified markings from Trump since he left office. A letter from the National Archives says Trump took more than 700 pages of classified documents, the New York Times reported. Before being elected, and while president, Trump regularly brought up Clinton's handling of classified material, often to the chant of "lock her up!" While in office, he upgraded the crime of wrongly moving classified material from a misdemeanor to a felony. The very bill that Trump signed himself might put him behind bars. Imagine the irony in that.

David McCuskey, Orono

•••

There are people who say Donald Trump should be treated the way Hillary Clinton was treated. Let's do that. Have him personally sit in front of a congressional Select Committee for 11 hours straight and tell us his truth under oath.

Diane Erdmann, Minneapolis