ACHTUNG: The following is not a “fair and balanced” story. It is an editorial by the editor.
There will be three state-wide ballot proposals in the Nov. 6 election. I support all three without reservation.
Proposal 1 — To legalize recreational marijuana, regulate it like alcohol.
I’ve been advocating this for a long time, not because I want to get high. I gave up the evil weed more than 40 years ago. I enjoyed it and found it to be less harmful than alcohol. Even worse, when I learned how relatively inoffensive it is, I began to wonder why we were lied to about it.
As Deep Throat told Woodward and Bernstein: “Follow the money.”
The pharmaceutical, alcohol, drug warrior and prison industries are all vehemently opposed to legalizing pot. They all stand to lose a lot of money, some of it public.
I am sick and tired of pouring taxpayers’ money down that toilet known as the “War on Drugs,” which was launched in 1971 by President Richard M. Nixon and has been a colossal failure. It has resulted in ruining non-violent peoples’ lives, many of them people of color. It has resulted in wasting law enforcement officers’ time, which could have been better spent dealing with much more toxic drugs, such as cocaine, heroin and opioids.
I am aware of the potential of adding to the tragedies when people use and operate motor vehicles. There is a downside to everything, but there is no justice in legalizing alcohol and criminalizing marijuana at the same time. All drunken and drugged driving should be made illegal.
Don’t tell me about Colorado. I’ve been there several times to visit my son and I’ve asked him and his wife about pot in that state. They’ve said there’s really no difference from what went before, because it’s properly regulated.
Proposal 2 — To turn over redistricting to a more non-partisan panel
This one is a real no-brainer. We have allowed winning politicians once every 10 years to draw up districts that favor them in holding on to their power. So it’s simple: We have legalized gerrymandering.
Some say, “To the victors go the spoils.” I counter, “Let’s play the game fairly. Let’s stop having it rigged.”
Proposal 3 — To allow people to register to vote automatically when they renew their driver’s licenses.
Now you know, as well as I do, that when you make something easy to do, people will do it. Curbside recycling has helped the uptick in that process as a result. Limiting access to abortion and creating roadblocks for such services have conversely helped the pro-life movement.
If we truly, as we so often say, want people to exercise their right to vote, let’s make it easier for them to do so. I’d like to see it made even easier with no-excuse mail-in voting and eliminating that very small window of election time to a workday from from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Voting is one of the very few exercises of power that people still have. If we are a democracy or a constitutional republic, let’s open it up to as many as possible.
Power to the people.
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