Legalize marijuana

[SubGod22]

And yet the use of alcohol causes a lot more problems and harm to others than marijuana does.

I'd never advocate for making alcohol illegal. But a lot more violence, damage to property and death come from consuming alcohol.

But all of that really just comes down to the individuals partaking in whatever they choose to.

[Shockm]

Lot's of things could be legalized to give people more freedom. Some people say that Statutory Rape, and marriage age laws should decrease. Others say that all drugs should be legal to use anywhere one wants. For example, San Francisco has areas where needles are found on sidewalks, and adults have sex in public, where kids go to school, without fear of prosecution. Are we sure it hurts kids? Homeless tent communities spring up in many cities, and they are provided port a potties. Maybe, nobody is hurt, Right? I don't know. How can we be sure? I don't want to live in communities where these things are allowed. Maybe those things should be ok.

Again, I say that I have mixed POV's on legalizing pot. However, the unknown is still an argument against it, and many negatives have happened in places where it has been legalized for recreational purposes.

[Shockm]

Here's an interesting possible unintended problem from the city acting alone.

Sedgwick County threatens to bill Wichita for minor marijuana cases after city decriminalizes

Read more at: https://www.kansas.com/news/politics...#storylink=cpy

“That way the public would understand this, too,” Meitzner said. “I don’t know if it would have an exact cost, but I could see a step that says, ‘There is a cost.’” Bryan Frye, one of two Wichita council members to vote against decriminalization after his motion to delay for 30 days failed, addressed the County Commission at Meitzner’s request. “Do you think that, in your opinion, that the City Council members understood this, all of these impacts, was that discussed yesterday?” Meitzner asked. “I wish I could say yes,” Frye said. “But I don’t believe so.” He said he worries that the council decision could have unintended consequences if Wichita police arrest people for marijuana possession and the district attorney brings charges.

the City Council cannot direct Wichita officers to not enforce state law and has no authority over the district attorney.

“I think this potentially could have much greater financial ramifications on those individuals, between impound fees, attorney fees, higher fines, etc., and I think the idea of placing a less financial burden on people that are charged with simple possession is not a consequence that was considered,” Frye said. COPS WITH POT CONVICTIONS Sedgwick County Sheriff Jeff Easter called marijuana possession and fentanyl test strips, which the city also voted to decriminalize on Tuesday, “two completely separate issues.” But Easter also gave an example of how law enforcement has discretion to not arrest people for misdemeanor possession of an illegal substance.

Easter said his office also hires law enforcement officers who have previous marijuana convictions. “And so this is not unusual for people with just simple possession charges,” Easter said. “It used to be a year that you couldn’t apply or be a cop. We’ve changed that now — it’s all depending on what the circumstance is.”

[AndShock]

I’m aware I’m not going to convince anyone here but I’ll just say there was a reason I was a conservative until I met people who have been in and out of the criminal justice system and now I’m somewhere left of very liberal.

I’ve brought multiple people back with Narcan, know others who weren’t brought back and I’m currently pursuing a psychology Master’s with Mental Health and Addiction focuses. The current system is a complete disaster, scam, farce, whatever word you want to use. The jail is a revolve door for addicts to reset their tolerance, rack up a few grand in fines and then go back on the street to either die or build their tolerance back up and repeat the process. You might say too bad so sad but the real scam is that if they were high-functioning addicts with a few grand in the bank account 1. they probably wouldn’t get arrested in the first place and 2. they might get a record out of it but there’s a good chance their lawyer makes it all go away. And trust me, you might not think there are high-functioning addicts but there are plenty of successful people in Wichita addicted to heroin, meth, etc.

Legalizing all drugs might not be the answer but I’d take it over what we have now which is a war on the poor and uneducated for profit.

[Shockm]

I’m aware I’m not going to convince anyone here but I’ll just say there was a reason I was a conservative until I met people who have been in and out of the criminal justice system and now I’m somewhere left of very liberal.

I’ve brought multiple people back with Narcan, know others who weren’t brought back and I’m currently pursuing a psychology Master’s with Mental Health and Addiction focuses. The current system is a complete disaster, scam, farce, whatever word you want to use. The jail is a revolve door for addicts to reset their tolerance, rack up a few grand in fines and then go back on the street to either die or build their tolerance back up and repeat the process. You might say too bad so sad but the real scam is that if they were high-functioning addicts with a few grand in the bank account 1. they probably wouldn’t get arrested in the first place and 2. they might get a record out of it but there’s a good chance their lawyer makes it all go away. And trust me, you might not think there are high-functioning addicts but there are plenty of successful people in Wichita addicted to heroin, meth, etc but there are plenty.

Legalizing all drugs might not be the answer but I’d take it over what we have now which is a war on the poor and uneducated for profit.

Most mental health professionals would advocate having addicts in jail instead of out on the street. Often, they say that people have to hit "rock bottom" before they can be helped. Your strategy will have no positive effect on helping those addicts. The addicts you mention will most likely die either way at some point.

In fact, I had a cousin whose family tried to help him, and they failed. Eventually, he killed himself with the drugs. It was sad. I had a friend who was getting better, but later died of an opioid overdose. He talked about his first mistake when he took the heroin the first time with a friend who spoke at his funeral. His family thought he was getting better, and he had a job, and was a contributor to society, but he couldn't fight off the drug, and it took just one more mistake.

We all have these stories. However, jailing addicts isn't the problem when they break the law.

[AndShock]

Most mental health professionals would advocate having addicts in jail instead of out on the street. Often, they say that people have to hit "rock bottom" before they can be helped. Your strategy will have no positive effect on helping those addicts. The addicts you mention will most likely die either way at some point.

Right now there is not room to keep addicts in jail. They go there for a night or a couple weeks and come out in worse shape than they went in and after they’ve lost whatever job they had.

Is building a new jail, staffing that jail, building new courts, staffing those courts all realistic? Absolutely not, Wichita is already severely under where they want to be. So how about we take the tens of millions of dollars we’re wasting on solving absolutely nothing and fund more mental health and addiction services?

Also: https://www.addictionpolicy.org/post...or-rock-bottom

[SubGod22]

Most mental health professionals would advocate having addicts in jail instead of out on the street. Often, they say that people have to hit "rock bottom" before they can be helped. Your strategy will have no positive effect on helping those addicts. The addicts you mention will most likely die either way at some point.

This is bullshit. I know a number of mental health professionals and jail is not the place for them. Drug abuse is a health issue, not a legal one. Until we approach it that way, nothing will change and AndShock is right, it has a much more negative impact on the poor. The reason law enforcement, for the most part, is against legalization is because of the revenue stream they lose from fines and asset forfeiture.

Instead of spending at least $30K a year locking up each addict, and non-violent offenders in general, we need to figure out a better way to get them the actual help and assistance they need. Throwing them in jail does nothing to help them, and it's not like they can't still get drugs while incarcerated.

[Kung Wu]

There is a mental health staff shortage all over Kansas, but it is at crisis levels in the Wichita area. Sedgwick County has recently closed at least one mental health facility due to staff shortages.

Some facts about marijuana:

1) Legalizing/decriminalizing increases use in the population

2) Legalizing/decriminalizing increases substance addiction in the population

3) Regular users have a 20%+ increased rate of hospital visitations over their lifespan

4) Using long term often creates chronic mental health issues

5) Using short term substantially increases risk of mental health episodes that require hospital visits

Why increase the mental health crisis in Wichita at a time when we don't have the workers to handle the load we have WITHOUT legalizing/decriminalizing? We are pouring gasoline on a fire at this point in time.

[SB Shock]

Why not make alcohol illegal?

Okay - I am for it.

I think ingesting in any mind-altering substance is stupid and there is no good comes from it.

[wufan]

There is a mental health staff shortage all over Kansas, but it is at crisis levels in the Wichita area. Sedgwick County has recently closed at least one mental health facility due to staff shortages.

Some facts about marijuana:

1) Legalizing/decriminalizing increases use in the population

2) Legalizing/decriminalizing increases substance addiction in the population

3) Regular users have a 20%+ increased rate of hospital visitations over their lifespan

4) Using long term often creates chronic mental health issues

5) Using short term substantially increases risk of mental health episodes that require hospital visits

Why increase the mental health crisis in Wichita at a time when we don't have the workers to handle the load we have WITHOUT legalizing/decriminalizing? We are pouring gasoline on a fire at this point in time.

I appreciate the listing of externalities, and won’t argue the validity of any of them in this post. I would instead ask what are the externalities of our current system?I’m betting that the health care visits are not as expensive as the cost of the criminal justice system.

[AndShock]

Okay - I am for it.

I think ingesting in any mind-altering substance is stupid and there is no good comes from it.

Then I recommend looking into current studies on MDMA with PTSD and Ketamine and Psilocybin with depression.

[Shockm]

Then I recommend looking into current studies on MDMA with PTSD and Ketamine and Psilocybin with depression.

There are sometimes good child drug outcomes, but I’ve witnessed many mis-prescribed kids. It probably happens too often to adults too. Lots of problems with this.

[Shockm]

Right now there is not room to keep addicts in jail. They go there for a night or a couple weeks and come out in worse shape than they went in and after they’ve lost whatever job they had.

Is building a new jail, staffing that jail, building new courts, staffing those courts all realistic? Absolutely not, Wichita is already severely under where they want to be. So how about we take the tens of millions of dollars we’re wasting on solving absolutely nothing and fund more mental health and addiction services?

Also: https://www.addictionpolicy.org/post...or-rock-bottom

True. Years ago, I worked at a drug facility in the Broadway/Market area downtown. We lost a good number of addicts to the street each week, who would just make a break for it. Many of them were placed there by the courts. A life of addiction, prostitution, stealing, conning people, and panhandling was too strong for them to complete the program. Many of those who ran out, were arrested again after breaking laws that weren’t drug laws. It was a revolving door.

Enabling them doesn’t work well either.

[ShockerFever]

Why not make alcohol illegal?

I’m ok with that. And also the thousands of lives and vehicles it would save in the process.

[SubGod22]

I’m ok with that. And also the thousands of lives and vehicles it would save in the process.

So where does this end? Sugar? Fatty foods? Caffeine? Red meat? Cars? Guns? Knives? Bats?

How many more decisions would you be okay with allowing government to make for us?