Bellyaching And Complaining

[Motor City]

When I first arrived to MMMA my first impression was "Great". I found a bunch of like minded people. After monitoring the chat room for about a week I notice that a lot of people were complaining about the sorry state of affairs in Lansings. Civil rights, woman rights, worker rights, and just about every right we now have had to be fought for. The government is taking our hard earned rights away from us to support corporations. As a community we need to continue the fight to save what little gains we have made in the last few years. If we just lay back and complain to each other, we deserve whatever comes our way in more restrictive laws. Short of committing mayhem and murder I have not seen any immediate realistic solutions to our current problem in Lansing. I'm an old war horse from the 60s. I'm to old and beat up to physically get on the front lines, but I can still make my voice heard by the government by writing. My voice alone means nothing. But a thousand voices singing the same song will be heard nation wide. Below is a copy of a letter I sent to my state senator. Use it, expand on it, or throw it away. You can play a part in bettering our way of life or sit on the sidelines and hope for trhe best. It took my about two hours to compose my random thoughts in a somewhat coherent letter. Two hours isn't much to try to protect a way of life.

 

I am writing to you in regards to MI SB 377. At first reading, the bill seemed reasonable. After all, as a law abiding citizen I do not see a problem with the police checking to make sure a person in possession of marijuana has the legal right to be in possession of the marijuana. After giving the matter some thought I came to conclusion tha tMI SB 377 is a useless and dangerous bill for the following reasons:

 

 

(1) Law enforcement agencies already have an avenue to secure the information through the Michigan Department of Human Services to determine the validity of a person's claim that they can legally possess marijuana.

 

(2) There is an issue of warantless accessibility to the information. Throughout my life I have been stopped by the police for minor traffic violations. Without probable cause, on more than one occasion I have been asked, "Have you been drinking? Do you have any weapons or drugs in your car?" With the passage of MI SB 377 the police will have unlimited access to the information to investigate neighbors, friends, and foes alike without just cause. We know of the abuse of power that goes on all the time by law enforcement agencies. This was recently illustrated by ther evelations concerning how the FBI abuse their authority under the Patriot Act. Law enforcement agencies have a long history of abusing power whether it is at the federal, state, or local level.

 

(3) There is an issue of confidentially. In regards to confidentially, the current law states in part, "...without disclosing more information than is reasonable necessary to verify the authenticity of the registry identification card." To me, that means a simple yes or no as to whether the registry identification card is authentic or not. The Michigan Department of Human Services has forcefully stated in its rules that confidentially is to be protected. All the other information that MI SB 377 proposes to be listed in the information data bank can be easily verified by other means such as checking a person's driver license or state ID.

 

(4) There is the financial cost of initating and maintaining the proposed 24/7 redundancy system. MI SB 377 proposes in part, "...allows immediate access to information..." Michjigan is fighjting for its financial life. As you are aware, services to the people of Michigan are being reduced or eliminated. Michigan cannot afford to add a new program while people are worried about where their next meal is coming from, the quality of needed health care and the educattion of their children, or if there are enough police and fire fighters to response to an emergency. MI SB 377 will add to Michigan's already overburdened financial problems.

 

(5) Finally, the people of Michigan have spoken and voted to have the current Medical Marihuana Act. Wisconsin is a good example of the backlash to politicians who ignore the will of the people.

 

In summary, I feel that the dangers of passing MI SB 377 far exceed any potential benefits that may be derived from increasing the powers of law enforcemet agencies. As a voting constituent of your district, I urge you to vote against passage of MI SB 377.