The Politics Hour
http://thekojonnamdishow.org/shows/2012-09-21/politics-hour
Virginia's hot-button race for the U.S. Senate reaches a critical crossroads. A D.C. Council member's driving record adds to the roadblocks his reelection campaign faces. And another Metro meltdown creates a nightmarish morning for commuters. Join us for our weekly review of the politics, policies and personalities of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia.
Guests
Tom Sherwood
Resident Analyst; NBC 4 reporter; and Columnist for the Current Newspapers
Adam Eidinger
Founder and Partner, Mintwood Media Collective; Co-founder Capitol Hemp
John Sarbanes
Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Politics Hour Video
Mintwood Media Collective founder Adam Eidinger explained why the Federal Aviation Administration contacted him after he lost an aerial done over Adams Morgan.
Comments
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Lesser penalties for marijuana--reasonable. Making it legal--scary dangerous. Marijuana use today is responsible for huge numbers of driving accidents. These are not well-documented or prosecuted because there is no field sobriety test for marijuana. Additionally I get really worked up over the fact that self-centered older people do not give much thought to the needs of youth and children. Marijuana is already having a huge demotivational effect on the young. "Medical" weed is shared in California, and will be here.
One more thing to consider: people who are technically thrown in prison for "possession" are often (nearly always) pleading down from a charge of selling. They get a lower sentence for "snitching" on the people they work for. I do not subscribe to the "then just legalize it." Marijuana is not analgous to alcohol. And alcohol is still a very serious problem. Prohibition was not a great solution, but the abuse of alcohol at that time caused untold suffering, especially for women and children. Control of substances that harm is a reasonable role for government. It's a cynical point of view that concludes government should just get in on the profits. We don't need another alcohol. I'm not going to include lots of links in here, but you can Google for proof of my assertions.
No penalties for marijuana is reasonable, locking people up for selling when there should be legal channels to acquire the plant is foolish. Plus let people grow for themselves. Just replace marijuana with alcohol and make the same policy finally! Watch jobs and revenue increase and less hard drug use result from a new policy that isolates major dealers that are no longer are part of the black market but rather can shift to honest business people. The new policy would help end the drug war in Mexico too. Driving high will still be a crime , OK? You can't do this effectively without embracing legalization fully.