AND:
“[The bill] would also reduce drug possession from a felony to a misdemeanor for those individuals in possession of small amounts of drugs who do not have substantial criminal histories. Oregon-based data provided to the task force demonstrated disparities that result in more minorities convicted and sentenced to drug-related felonies solely because of their racial or ethnic status. The bill will also protect lawful immigrants from facing mandatory deportation for low-level, non-violent offenses.”
The above underlined by myself for emphasis. I think it's pretty clear what one of the major goals is.
Mag; Sorry for the delayed response, I have been in airplanes and cars all day today. As always, I appreciate and respect your opinions and perspective. I do however disagree with you. I certainly don't take issue with you quoting and standing behind the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I wholeheartedly agree with you on that. Yes, men and women should be free to do what they want, including ingesting harmful substances. Where you and I diverge is that practically speaking, consumption very rarely occurs in a vacuum. There are always innocents (spouses, children) involved and in order to feed the habit(s), crimes are usually committed. By "decriminalizing" these substances, the floodgates of availability will swing wide open with the result being huge increases of addiction to an already out of control problem. As many others have posted here, I am not in favor of any kind of taxpayer subsidized assistance to those that have gone down this path of abuse. I have personally been involved in helping an acquaintance kick the heroin habit. It is not pretty, there is no glamor in it, nothing other than long term suffering for initial, short term gratification. I feel sorry for those that have or are experiencing addiction, but I did not make that choice and thrust it upon them, they did it all by themselves. I have never seen a "perfectly normal, non-addicted" heroin user. However, I have witnessed people addicted to it lie, cheat and steal to feed their habit. To your point, I think the same could be said relative to alcohol.
), yet Its legal. Equal rights.
