Saturday, March 1, 2014

Citizens Complain About Chris Abele's "Reefer Madness" Program

I have been alerted by a few Milwaukee County residents who are upset about a new program that Milwaukee County Emperor Chris Abele is spending taxpayer money on.

The program involves the Milwaukee County Behavioral Health Prevention Coordinator - a newly created position - to go around to various civic groups and give a presentation called "Marijuana.... Is It the Safer Alternative?"  While the presentation is supposed to unbiased, people have complained that it comes just short of the 1938 classic "Reefer Madness."

People are questioning the wisdom of spending taxpayer money on such a hokey program filled with misinformation, especially when the common consensus across the nation is becoming markedly more favorable to the legalization of marijuana.  Even here in Wisconsin, State Representative Melissa Sargent has recently introduced a bill to legalize it.

The people I have spoken to who have seen this program feel that is is not only a disservice, but that the money could be better spent actually providing services, such as more staff at the critically understaffed mental health complex.

Maybe Abele is pushing this program because he agrees with his mentor, Scott Walker, that smoking pot is much worse than hammering down beers.  It would make sense, since Abele is very well known to down more than a few and doesn't think drunk driving is a big deal.

If Abele was really concerned about efficiency and giving the best service for the taxpayer buck, perhaps he could kill that program and reinvest the money into actual services.  And if he really wanted to get his anti-marijuana message out, he could do a "Just Say No" campaign and get people to watch the trailer for "Reefer Madness":

2 comments:

  1. capper, thanks. Why isn't the County Exec trying to bring back the prohibition against alcohol?

    IMHO, the highest priority for tax revenues from pot is protecting the jobs, wages, and benefits of law enforcement, "Colorado rakes in tax revenue from legalized pot sales" http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=news/national_world&id=9440209 Local and state law enforcement also get lots of federal funds for drug arrests, no reason that money should lessen. As long as both parties refuse to halt the "job-killing-government-regulations" against marijuana, Wisconsin Tourism will continue lose a ton of revenue to more forward looking states.

    I would never encourage anyone, who did not already have a serious illness, to use it, but the prohibition against alcohol didn't work either.

    The biggest loser when marijuana is legalized will be Big Pharma. It gives a lot of folks an alternative to a lot of their meds.

    "The Smoke and Mirrors of the Legalization Debate"

    http://fdlaction.firedoglake.com/2012/04/27/the-smoke-and-mirrors-of-the-legalization-debate/

    They want to delay it as long as possible, to give their researchers more time to come up with a synthetic substitute that works.

    The second biggest loser will be another GOP gravy train, the private prison industry. "Netherlands Closing 19 Prisons Due to Lack of Criminals" http://jcjusticecenter.com/2013/09/14/netherlands-closing-19-prisons-due-to-lack-of-criminals/

    Provided, both parties don't force Wisconsin to import pot, the biggest winner may be urban agriculture in Milwaukee and Madison. Legalization would give aquaponics gardeners/farmers a terrific cash crop.
    http://www.brightagrotech.com That would be a boost to all the other organic vegetables and fish (perch, tilapia)
    they could sell. The folks at Bright Agrotech are in Laramie WY, but because they're indoors, they're harvesting 12 months/year. That's a big step towards "food security" for all Milwaukee neighborhoods. The future of food could be using Twitter/FB to buy an increasing percentage of your food from folks you know and trust.

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    Replies
    1. Meant to write: "The future of food could be using Twitter/FB to buy an increasing percentage of your food from LOCAL folks you know and trust."

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