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Posts Tagged ‘marijuana’

Pump the Breaks on Immigration Reform and Weed

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , on April 8, 2014| 1 Comment »

What’s going on with immigration reform?  Former Governor Jeb Bush recently said that some illegal immigrants were committing an “act of love” when they came to this country for work to feed their families.  Bullfeathers!  To me, if you broke the law, you broke the law and we don’t need to start measuring the crime by looking at the reasons or because enforcement would be difficult.

 

My mind turns to the introduction of Biggie Smalls’ lyrics on “Juicy:” Yeah, this album is dedicated to all the teachers that told me I’d never amount to nothin’, to all the people that lived above the buildings that I was hustlin’ in front of that called the police on me when I was just tryin’ to make some money to feed my daughter…

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/04/06/jeb-bush-many-illegal-immigrants-come-out-of-an-act-of-love/

 

Well, Oh Jeb seems to say it’s okay to break a few laws if it’s for a good cause.  People who sell illegal drugs create an unregulated illicit trade.  While you are making money for your family, you might leave someone’s family as zombies.  We know dope zombies will do some of anything to feed their habits.  For the record, weed kills fewer people than alcohol and alcohol kills fewer than the calories from McDonalds.  But, legal is still legal.  Science should explore the medical benefits of marijuana but California Governor Jerry Brown was right about everyone being recreationally stoned all of the time.

 

“if there’s advertising and legitimacy, how many people can get stoned and still have a great state or a great nation? The world’s pretty dangerous, very competitive. I think we need to stay alert, if not 24 hours a day, more than some of the potheads might be able to put together.”  Gov. Jerry Brown, Meet the Press

Of course, we need more drug treatment and there are too many non-violent drug offenders in prison.  Actually, we should address the problems people are having at the root cause..before the desire to self-medical and tune-out.

America is the greatest freaking country ever and everyone wants to come here.  On a related note, people in hell want ice water…that doesn’t mean they will get any.  My problem with creating a path to citizenship for those people who are current here is centered on the fact that most of those people come from the two or third nations to our immediate south.  I am no xenophobia and I have a well-worn blue passport to prove it but maybe we should see about “us” first.

 

For the record, I live in an agriculture region and undocumented people do jobs than some folks born here refuse to do.  Man, as a congressional staffer, I did immigration and ag issues so I would be calls from Georgia that said, “why is the government giving out welfare when I am farmer who can’t get anyone to pick my crops.”

 

Also, I should mention that during college I had an understanding ear for those who felt that most of the American Southwest was stolen from Mexico.  Yea, the Mexicans were robbed; the Native Americans were really robbed and the Africans were super robbed.  You still can’t ignore our laws.  We shouldn’t fool ourselves; the Democrats and the Republicans are eyed that huge new voting bloc: new citizens and their cousins who are current citizens.  Jeb Bush is the non-latino Republican with the best relationship with that community.

 

If we are going to have an influx of new citizens, I want balance from around the world.  The stew should be seasoned with some South America, southeast Asia, the Caribbean, eastern Europe and a big dash from every corner of Africa.  Europe, Mexico and west Africa are the meat and potatoes that are currently simmering.

 

At the end of the day, we can’t ignore lawbreakers.  If that is the case, a guy who was serving time for numbers running should have been freed when the state created the lottery.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/03/02/gov-jerry-brown-on-legalized-marijuana-how-many-people-can-get-stoned-and-still-have-a-great-state/

 

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Community Concern: Self Medicating

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , on October 28, 2013| 1 Comment »

Abusing drugs might be at the root of most of southern communities’ problems.  However, we should consider drug abuse in its totality.  Yes, alcohol is a drug and many people drink in their (our) youth to mask the pain and disappointment of not having the life they wanted.  Everyone can’t be Miss. America, driving for NASCAR or score a touchdown in the Sugar Bowl.  You plan and life laughs—get over it.

I think that college kids and young adults smoke weed rather than drink alcohol because in many cases it is easier to get. First Lady Nancy Reagan said just say no to drugs and she was so right. In the 80s, crack dam near destroyed urban America.

As quiet as it is kept, prescription drug abuse or doctor shopping is tearing up another side of town and it is time to talk about it.  Secretary Colin Powell’s and Senator John McCain’s wives both had legal drug addiction problems.  If you have a car accident and are in pain, these drugs will help in the short term.  But, using them after the pain is gone is a mess.  The body has a habit forming need or a chemical dependency.  I don’t know all of the names of the drugs but it’s the stuff of mid-class women—the real desperate housewives.  These drugs are currency in certain circles.  Have you seen that show called Intervention?

Doctor shopping occurs when a person uses several doctors and the emergency room to get more and more of the stuff.  One pill “as directed” isn’t the norm.  People are taking several at one time or mixing them with alcohol for a dangerous cocktail.   An article in my local newspaper features comments on the subject from an emergency room doctor who attended undergrad with me.  The article says emergency room doctor shoppers are more likely to be White.  I don’t want to see anyone hooked on anything.

http://www.albanyherald.com/news/2013/oct/27/emergency-room-drug-seeking-a-growing-problem/

Local officials should work with state and federal governments to determine and address this problem because it is costly to the healthcare and criminal justice systems.  How much crime is drug related?  It actually cost more money to put someone in prison for a year than the average person earns in a year.

Here is the kicker: the SSI disability program treats drug abuse as a disability.  Huh?  Is that the classic definition of a vicious circle because the money from “the check” often funds more abuse.  What they really need is some sweet Jesus.

Getting to the root of the abuse problem will require giving people something positive to do.  While most local elected officials will say that utilities and fire trucks are their duties, they must work to attract more jobs, support the local education system and tell state and federal officials that funding positive activities and treatment programs is spending a dime now rather than spending a dollar later on jails.

Lastly, marijuana seems to have pain management benefits but we should pump the brakes on legalization; the experts on this matter should speak first.  We must remember that there was no real organized crime in America before prohibition.  The trafficking of illegal weed is a big problem but legalization might create a subculture of mellow zombies.

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Libertarian Party Candidate John Monds and Get Out the Vote

Posted in politics, tagged , , , , , , , , on October 19, 2010| 1 Comment »

Could it be true: are some people too dim to vote.  I just noticed a comment on a post about John Monds, candidate for governor in Georgia from the Libertarian Party.  The comment said “he short as hell” and I did not know if the writer was referring to my picture with Monds or with Rep. Sanford Bishop.  Monds, Bishop, and MLK are all Morehouse Men and like Dr. Benjamin Mays of Morehouse they emphasize achievement and intellectual stature over physical stature.  

John Monds is taking the high road in a governor race that has seen negative ads after negative ads from candidates who aren’t generally considered negative people.  I think a cottage industry has developed in which people are more interested in making money from fundraising and media ads than actually winning the elections.

Monds has represented the LP movement well and introduced a southern style of the LP.  Nationally, the LP generally stands for freedom and liberty from government regulations and involvement.  Monds has pushed those principles without bringing up the marijuana card that could spicy up his numbers with some voters.  I am not for smoking cannabis or for gambling personally (gaming being another hot button issue) but many political observers would play that card with the current changes in California in mind.

Monds is a powerful man in Georgia politics because his governor bid could provide ballot access to the LP for future elections and his run will likely force a runoff.  Former congressman Nathan Deal is fighting to hold his base and former governor Roy Barnes is fighting to turnout the Dem base while attracting moderates.  Politicos I bumped into during the local HCBU’s homecoming all said the same thing: why are Democrats spending 30 million dollars on media buys and very little on the streets. 

“The streets” or Get Out The Vote (GOTV) operations have traditionally been a method of awarding those with great community networking skills and those with well-earned reputations as community problem-solvers.  Today, that money goes to run more and more TV ads and the real winners during election season are HBO and Showtime—no commercials.

Mark my word and file this post: the down ballot Democrat candidates are suffering from a lack of GOTV and if the governor race goes into a runoff, Democrats are not coming back out because getting them out now is unbelievable hard.  Some Democrats are rumored to be voting for Monds as a protest for Barnes taking them for granted while courting conservative voters.

Again, are some people too dim to vote?  You have Dems who cried when Obama was elected but won’t vote in the mid-term elections.  We also have conservative voters whose views are shaped by TV and radio talking heads and the Tea Party Movement rather than seasoned public servants or policy wonks.  When did experience become a bad thing?   Rep. Charles Hatcher told me that lobbyists like dumb candidates and heavy turnover because congress is complex and under those conditions the lobbyists have the knowledge and power.

Recently, former governor Roy Barnes bumped into 8th district GOP congressional candidate Austin Scott and Barnes joked that a picture together would ruin Scott’s reputation.  Barnes was so right because the GOP voters want candidates who detest Democrats and Scott must cloak the fact that Democrats and Republicans down here consider him a bright and likeable guy.  Of course, there can be zero mention of the fact that Scott voted to change Georgia’s flag when Barnes was govenor.  If Scott wins next month, his history of voting his mind will put him at the top of the list of freshmen Republicans that President Obama wants to know.

That last line means that the conservative Austin Scott would be better for this White House than the current Democrat congressman Jim Marshall who is slamming Obama and Pelosi every chance he gets.

Come to think about it, I am taller in pictures than Austin Scott, Sanford Bishop, John Monds, Rep. John Lewis, Senator Johnny Isakson and Rep. Jack Kingston but that doesn’t mean a thing when we remember MLK’s line about contend of character.  (The same could be said about U.S. Senate candidate Michael Thurmond, who I never met.  He would be a great asset in the U.S. Department of Labor.)

In America, no one is too dim to vote.  However, we clearly have those who are too dim to realize the importance of voting but I am not worried because they didn’t read this long blog post.   If weed was legal or decriminalized, those dim cats would be even dimmer.  Former Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders is off on the marijuana issue.

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