By Antonio D. French
Filed Tuesday, March 13, 2007 at 12:31 PM
Pub Def will be reporting from the State Capitol today. Check back tonight for interviews with senators and representatives from St. Louis - and maybe the Governor. The Senate has taken a break from their now 19 hour filibuster on Gov. Matt Blunt's MOHELA plan. They will resume at 2 o'clock. State Rep. Talibdin El-Amin is preparing to introduce a bill aimed at crack cocaine. It would put a primary ingredient in the drug's production, baking soda, behind the counter, similar to what was done to the ingredients in Meth. Labels: State_House, State_Senate
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10 Comments:
Baking soda? Behind WHAT counter? I can see it now, checkers at Schnucks with boxes of Arm & Hammer stacked under their registers. Lines of grandmas at the holidays whipping out their ID's to bake cookies.
Here's a thought: why not put the crack smokers away instead of the baking soda?
3/13/2007 11:53 AM
I hope this bill is a spoof.
Maybe this will get the debate going on how obsured it is to lock up "imgredence" for street drugs that are regular perscription drugs... or ingredience for cookys.
3/13/2007 12:07 PM
You know, if the Federal Government's solution to the drug problem is to lock brothers in jail for 15 years or more, while punishing powder cocaine users proportionally lower, then I am all for this.
I congratulate Mr. El-Amin for his effort. Has the new restrictions on the ingredients in Meth had any reduction in supply?
3/13/2007 12:36 PM
One thing I've learned being around the public sector is that criticism comes more abundantly than solutions. One thing that has been confirmed is that our inability to think outside the box, has kept our community in the box. The drug problem that exists in our community is real, and crack cocaine has taken a backseat in the media, and amongst lawmakers. Maybe this is an attempt to bring attention from the state, and subsequently potential resources to address the issue. I appreciate Representative Al-Amin's thinking outside the box. Maybe it will also has the potential impact of engaging dialogue on the matter.
John Barry
jbins@aol.com
3/13/2007 12:39 PM
Antonio, if you see Jay Nixon, congratulate him on following in the footsteps of Bill Bradley by graduating from a top-notch Jefferson County PUBLIC School.
Tell him KJOE says hello and wonders if he remembers the time we were playing basketball and a circuit judge got punched in the face and had to get 40 stitches. (white guys can get rough).
Jay was really good at firing passes in a completely unexpected direction---in that spirit----tell him I hope he takes a close look at the criminals and thugs on the state board of education who are sexually harrassing Diana Bourisaw, and racially discriminating against St. Louis voters.
3/13/2007 12:49 PM
Hey Antonio my friend, don't have too much fun in Jeff City. You get to go to all the fun places!
Steve
Sent via 12" Mac PowerBook via wi-fi network in sunny San Diego, CA
3/13/2007 4:22 PM
2 things:
"Real" fillibusters don't need or allow breaks. This is just grandstanding.
Liberty includes the right to destroy your own life. Let's legalize drug use and stop wasting time and money prosecuting users. That would leave a lot of room in prison for "real" criminals.
3/13/2007 4:54 PM
cwe...
Yes, a true fillibuster is a lot of work.
as far as...
"Liberty includes the right to destroy your own life".
Yeah, I guess it does.
Legalizing drugs? Exactly what drugs are you referring to? That is a very broad statement considering the scope of substances classified as "drugs". Nichotine is legal for some, as is alcohol. Maybe marijuana should be. What next? Coke? In what form? And on...and on...and on...
At what point does the cost of allowing free drug usage overtake the savings of not prosecuting?
Draw the line.
3/13/2007 9:41 PM
Jim,
All of them...
The line I draw is at the tip of my nose. For example, someone's right to destroy themselves ends at the tip of my nose. When it affects others, their rights end.
3/13/2007 10:47 PM
CWEguy, no man is an island.
When a person (some of them under the age of 18) decides to try a dangerous and addictive drug like Crack, their subsequent decisions:
(1) become less of a decision at all, which is the very nature of addiction, and
(2) also affect their neighbors (whom they rob from), their children (who are mistreated and condemned to a life of poverty and inadequate education), and you (who also become a victim of crime, or whose property values are lowered because of your city's perception of crime, or whose middle management job is lost because the company relocated because of the lack of entry-level workers).
No man is an island, and drugs like Meth and Crack destroy not just individuals, but entire communities.
3/14/2007 8:55 AM
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