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Sheriff, Prosecutor, Attorney General Candidate: Legalizing Marijuana Is A Bad Idea


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http://www.mlive.com/opinion/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/07/sheriff_prosecutor_attorney_ge.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+michigan-elections+%28Michigan+Elections+News%29

 

http://www.topix.net/state/mi/2010/07/sheriff-prosecutor-attorney-general-candidate-legalizing-marijuana-is-a-bad-idea

 

 

By Larry Stelma, Byron Konschuh and Bill Schuette

 

It took a couple years, but the truth has finally emerged regarding the real purpose behind the medical marijuana campaign. Tim Beck, the Chair of the Detroit Coalition for Compassionate Care and one of the leaders in the fight to make medical marijuana legal in Michigan, has admitted on statewide television that his goal is to legalize marijuana use in Detroit and, eventually, all of Michigan.

 

Throughout the campaign in 2008, proponents of the medical marijuana ballot initiative argued this was a carefully crafted proposal aimed at helping those few who suffered from intractable pain. Instead, the proposal has been nothing short of a nightmare for state and local authorities to sort through. Employers in Michigan who want a drug-free workplace are being sued by those who are smoking dope, even though marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. Law enforcement personnel, already stretched thin by budget cuts and rising levels of crime, are caught in the middle.

 

And, far from limiting the usage of marijuana to a small, select group of patients, the pot industry has become one of the fastest growing industries in Michigan. State government is receiving more than 1,000 medical marijuana patient applications each week. And less than two years after the ballot proposal was approved, there are more than 8,000 so-called caregivers in Michigan -- people who grow and harvest marijuana plants.

 

Pot shops are literally sprouting up everywhere. One in Lansing is less than 100 feet from a Catholic middle school, and oftentimes those who attend night classes at the pot shop park in the church and school's parking lot.

 

Now comes the push to completely legalize marijuana. But as we argued in 2008, legalizing drug use was a bad idea then, and it is even a worse idea now, with the economy continuing to tank. Twenty-four-and-a-half percent of federal and 29 percent of state prison inmates reported being under the influence of drugs when committing violent offenses.

 

Seventy-five percent of children in foster care are placed there because of a parent's substance abuse. More than 60 percent of domestic violence offenders have substance abuse problems, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

 

And make no mistake, the push is on not just to legalize marijuana, but a much broader range of currently illegal substances. Beck and other proponents of legalizing drugs argue that police dollars could be spent more productively elsewhere. And, Beck argues that state government could put a tax on marijuana to generate more revenue and help close the yawning budget deficit.

 

But the facts are clear: getting high on drugs is not a victimless crime. Families, spouses and children suffer. More drug usage results in more crime. And if state government cannot find a better way to balance the budget than legalizing drugs, then Michigan is in far worse shape than even we imagined. Legislators need to act now to stop marijuana legalization.

 

-- Larry Stelma is sheriff of Kent County. Byron Konschuh is Lapeer County prosecutor. Bill Schuette is a former state Court of Appeals Judge and candidate for Michigan attorney genera

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"Now comes the push to completely legalize marijuana. But as we argued in 2008, legalizing drug use was a bad idea then, and it is even a worse idea now, with the economy continuing to tank."

"But the facts are clear: getting high on drugs is not a victimless crime. Families, spouses and children suffer"

 

So,,,, lets get everyone off the Pharmacutical Drugs and using more natural, herbal remedies!!??

 

Are people really this ignorant/and/or something worse???:phew:

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i did social work for about 10 years in the abuse neglect and delinquency systems. i can assure you, WAY more problems arose in families where the problematic substance being abused was alcohol and/or cocaine (or crack). there was NOT ONE case that i can remember where the primary issue resulting in familial dysfunction was marijuana use or abuse. i saw hundreds of cases over those ten years involving families from all across michigan. in order to follow the above writers' argument you have to (wrongly) lump marijuana in with all other abused substances then debunk it. This is a classic fallacy, the scarecrow argument. You make false associations, then debunk the conglomerated boogeyman. Sad thing is, people buy this crap. Please see the linked article in my signature for a great piece on how people prefer to believe lies they are attached to, rather than truthful evidence to the contrary.

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Twenty-four-and-a-half percent of federal and 29 percent of state prison inmates reported being under the influence of drugs when committing violent offenses.

 

Seventy-five percent of children in foster care are placed there because of a parent's substance abuse. More than 60 percent of domestic violence offenders have substance abuse problems, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

 

Not once is Cannabis mentioned, just "substance abuse", ANY substance can be abused, legal and illegal substances. I love how they lump Cannabis with everything else, just like they have always done. I want real stats that say that Cannabis is to blame for these problems, and not alcohol, coke, heroin, and other "drugs".

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I guess it was only a matter of time until law enforcement was going to be painted the victims of our law. Lets all hold a charity event to help raise money for the poor law enforcement who's cought in the middle and left to sort everything out. NOT!

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Bill Schuette is running for attorney general. He is not a medical marijuana friend. Billschuette.com

He is backed by Mike Cox who is running for Governor. These two in office together is a real bad combo.

 

I know some people vote straight down party lines. Republican/Democrat. Sometimes that is how these people get voted in.

They are both Republican

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We need to do everything we can to make sure Bill Schuette doesnt get elected. I heard attorney Daniel Grow might be running for Attorney General. He is the one working the Walmart Joe case and other lawsuits for mmj patients. He is very mmj friendly and I hope he has a chance.

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http://www.mlive.com/opinion/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2010/07/sheriff_prosecutor_attorney_ge.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+michigan-elections+%28Michigan+Elections+News%29

 

http://www.topix.net/state/mi/2010/07/sheriff-prosecutor-attorney-general-candidate-legalizing-marijuana-is-a-bad-idea

 

 

By Larry Stelma, Byron Konschuh and Bill Schuette

 

It took a couple years, but the truth has finally emerged regarding the real purpose behind the medical marijuana campaign. Tim Beck, the Chair of the Detroit Coalition for Compassionate Care and one of the leaders in the fight to make medical marijuana legal in Michigan, has admitted on statewide television that his goal is to legalize marijuana use in Detroit and, eventually, all of Michigan.

 

Throughout the campaign in 2008, proponents of the medical marijuana ballot initiative argued this was a carefully crafted proposal aimed at helping those few who suffered from intractable pain. Instead, the proposal has been nothing short of a nightmare for state and local authorities to sort through. Employers in Michigan who want a drug-free workplace are being sued by those who are smoking dope, even though marijuana remains illegal at the federal level. Law enforcement personnel, already stretched thin by budget cuts and rising levels of crime, are caught in the middle.

 

And, far from limiting the usage of marijuana to a small, select group of patients, the pot industry has become one of the fastest growing industries in Michigan. State government is receiving more than 1,000 medical marijuana patient applications each week. And less than two years after the ballot proposal was approved, there are more than 8,000 so-called caregivers in Michigan -- people who grow and harvest marijuana plants.

 

Pot shops are literally sprouting up everywhere. One in Lansing is less than 100 feet from a Catholic middle school, and oftentimes those who attend night classes at the pot shop park in the church and school's parking lot.

 

Now comes the push to completely legalize marijuana. But as we argued in 2008, legalizing drug use was a bad idea then, and it is even a worse idea now, with the economy continuing to tank. Twenty-four-and-a-half percent of federal and 29 percent of state prison inmates reported being under the influence of drugs when committing violent offenses.

 

Seventy-five percent of children in foster care are placed there because of a parent's substance abuse. More than 60 percent of domestic violence offenders have substance abuse problems, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

 

And make no mistake, the push is on not just to legalize marijuana, but a much broader range of currently illegal substances. Beck and other proponents of legalizing drugs argue that police dollars could be spent more productively elsewhere. And, Beck argues that state government could put a tax on marijuana to generate more revenue and help close the yawning budget deficit.

 

But the facts are clear: getting high on drugs is not a victimless crime. Families, spouses and children suffer. More drug usage results in more crime. And if state government cannot find a better way to balance the budget than legalizing drugs, then Michigan is in far worse shape than even we imagined. Legislators need to act now to stop marijuana legalization.

 

-- Larry Stelma is sheriff of Kent County. Byron Konschuh is Lapeer County prosecutor. Bill Schuette is a former state Court of Appeals Judge and candidate for Michigan attorney genera

OMG I am SOOOOOoooo pissed reading this!!!! WTF>??? Drugs>? Get off the pharmaceutical drugs and the street drugs such as herion, crack ect. This kind of theory just pisses me right off!!!! Just goes to show michigan needs to educate these kind of IDIOTS! My Gwad!!!!!!!

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So the intellectual capacity of these three guys is so small, that they had to join mental forces to produce this drivel? It reads like it was written by a middle school student. The whole article is opinion and distorted logic, and then they close with "But the facts are clear" Yes, the facts are clear, that these three are desperately grasping at anything to stop the inevitable. :goodjob:

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So the intellectual capacity of these three guys is so small, that they had to join mental forces to produce this drivel? It reads like it was written by a middle school student. The whole article is opinion and distorted logic, and then they close with "But the facts are clear" Yes, the facts are clear, that these three are desperately grasping at anything to stop the inevitable. :goodjob:

:bow:

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So the intellectual capacity of these three guys is so small, that they had to join mental forces to produce this drivel? It reads like it was written by a middle school student. The whole article is opinion and distorted logic, and then they close with "But the facts are clear" Yes, the facts are clear, that these three are desperately grasping at anything to stop the inevitable. :goodjob:

:goodjob:

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"Twenty-four-and-a-half percent of federal and 29 percent of state prison inmates reported being under the influence of drugs when committing violent offenses."

 

Of course this would be the quote. Why the percentage of "Drugs" during violent crime? But not the percentage of Marijuana use in correlation?????

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The real deal is, there is a tidal wave coming their way and they know it.

It will not be very long until the "old guard" dies or is at the very least out of office and therefore power.

The laws will be changed and they just do not like it - gasping for breath in the death throws, do NOT throw them a life line.

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