Good morning District 27. My mind lately has been wandering with so many thoughts about the direction our state and country are heading that I wanted to write them down before I forgot. We are at a crossroads and the stakes in this election couldn’t be any greater. The forces of evil are at work and the mob knows that everything that is good, beautiful, and true must be dismantled. Our South Dakota values and way of life are under attack. The other day I wrestled with these thoughts and asked myself, “What are you going to do about it?” Let’s take Initiated Measure 29 - Legalizing the Recreational Use, Possession, and Distribution of Marijuana, for example. This measure directly attacks the values that we cherish in South Dakota. People may argue, “But it’s my body and my choice and I have the freedom to choose what I desire.” This post-modernist attitude is what is wrong with our society. The selfish attitude that I am referring to is this, “It’s all about me and the consequences of my actions really don’t affect you. Mind your own business and keep your religion to yourself.” That is what Christians and people of goodwill are up against in a post-modern society. It’s called relativism. The post-modernists argue there are no objective universal moral truths. The moral or natural law is no longer the arbiter from which we measure. In other words, the post-modernists base their truth on a subjective criterion that is not grounded in divine or natural law, but in a truth that is of their own.
The voters of South Dakota are asked this November to remove any offense under state or local law, regulation, or ordinance. The voters are asked, that people who possess marijuana, not be subject to a civil fine, penalty, or sanction. The voters of South Dakota are asked that anyone with possession of marijuana not be detained, searched, or arrested. Moreover, anyone may not be denied the right or privilege to possess marijuana, and furthermore, may not have their marijuana “asset” seized or forfeited.
The Initiated Measure 29 further asks the voters of South Dakota to give a wink and nod to “possessing, planting, cultivating, harvesting, drying, processing, or manufacturing not more than six cannabis plants and possessing and processing the cannabis produced by the plants, provided that the plants and any cannabis produced by the plants in excess of the possession limit are kept at one private residence only, are in a locked space at the private residence, are not visible by normal, unaided vision from a public place; and that the total number of plants at the private residence may not exceed twelve, even if more than two people who are twenty-one years of age or older live in the residence."
Does anyone else see a problem with this? Who is going to monitor this growing activity and make sure it’s only six, or is it twelve? Do you see the slippery slope with this initiated measure? It’s like the fox guarding the henhouse. If my neighbor grows it and I can see it, then what? Will law enforcement do anything about it? Probably not. State Attorneys right now don’t even prosecute marijuana possession in small amounts. This initiated measure, more or less, gives the citizens of South Dakota a wholesale license to start up their own marijuana dispensary in the comfort of their backyard, creating more at-large problems for our society. The people who pitch this initiated measure want to import those values and culture that are common to Amsterdam, Seattle, Portland, Denver, Los Angeles, and San Francisco to South Dakota and look at how these cities have turned out. A friend of mine recently was in Seattle and sent me the following photos of the homeless population on the streets of Seattle. Is this what we want in our small-town communities of Wall, Martin, Kadoka, New Underwood, Pine Ridge, and Kyle? Do we want cartels moving into our small-town neighborhoods creating pockets of homeless drug addicts? Do we want human excrement littering our streets and sidewalks? Do we want mothers and fathers to choose the purchasing of marijuana over purchasing food for their children? Do we want construction contractors to hire an employee to come to work after using recreational marijuana to operate a backhoe, potentially burying another employee in a trench? Do we want to expose our children at schools to other children whose parents are using recreational marijuana at home and then transport it into our schools? Do you see where I am going with this?
Possessing and growing marijuana has always been the gateway drug that leads one to other hardcore drugs such as crystal meth and fentanyl. Moreover, the potency of the marijuana grown is not like that used in the 1960’s. The marijuana growers and manufacturers have done an incredible job of marketing their product that they put it in gummies, cookies, brownies, creams, and lotions …all to disguise its harmful addictive, and psychologically inhibitive properties. Interestingly, we have laws on the books to protect ourselves from further harm such as wearing a seatbelt or a measured intoxication level of drinking under the influence while we drive, but apparently, it’s okay to permit recreational marijuana use and there are little to no consequences. Where does one draw the line? It’s no wonder why America is crumbling beneath our eyes because no one wants to speak up and take a position on what’s truly at stake. This November I plan to do my part to restore sanity to the direction of our state and country by voting No on the Recreational Marijuana Initiated Measure 29. If you feel the need to participate in recreational marijuana activities, then move to Denver, Seattle, Portland, or San Francisco since these cities have adopted like-minded recreational marijuana measures, but please don’t mess with our South Dakota values. If you care about South Dakota values, the family, and the future of our state, then I encourage you to vote NO on Initiated Measure 29. God bless.
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