The worst kind of political errors are ones where conservatives give liberals an unearned moral victory in a grab for the high ground.
Carly Melin – who was a 25 year old HamLaw graduate who was airlifted to northern Minnesota precisely in time to meet residency requirements to run for the seat for which the DFL had hand-picked her, when she was elected in 2010 – is taking on Big Law Enforcment on their opposition to the proposed Medical Marijuana bill, in this case in an interview in a Northern Minnesota newspaper (emphasis added):
[INTERVIEWER]: Gov. Dayton has said he will not sign the medical marijuana bill this legislative session if it does not have support of law enforcement. In fact, he made a campaign promise to that effect. The Minnesota Law Enforcement Coalition has made it clear they will not endorse the bill. Where does that leave you?
[MELIN]: We never expected the bill to be passed as written. We expected to use it as a starting point to discuss legislation going forward. Unfortunately, the Law Enforcement Coalition will not discuss specific provisions of the bill with us, and have instead stated that they are opposed to the legalization of medical marijuana for any purpose. In other words, they have a blanket opposition. This makes it very difficult to have a conversation on how to shape the bill.
Q: Why do you believe MN’s law enforcement agencies are so adamantly opposed to medicinal marijuana?
A: There are many individual members of law enforcement who are supportive of medical marijuana. In fact, one of them is a co-author of the bill, Rep. Dan Schoen, state representative and police office from Cottage Grove, MN. Law enforcement in northeast Minnesota have discussed some flexibility, which is a lot further than we got with the statewide leaders. It is the head honchos and lobbyists down in St. Paul who are the problem. Marijuana being illegal is big business for law enforcement. The forfeiture of property relating to marijuana crimes brings in big revenue to law enforcement agencies. They are worried that legalizing medical marijuana is a step toward the decriminalization of marijuana, which in turn would impact their budgets. I hope that isn’t the basis of their opposition to medical marijuana because there are sick Minnesotans in need of this medicine, but in my experience carrying this legislation they primarily express concerns that this will lead to the recreational use of marijuana.
Leave aside the potential benefits of legalizing recreational marijuana use (I’m not a weed kinda guy, but it’s cut out one of the foundations of the Drug War that’s made parts of Minneapolis, Saint Paul, Richfield and the Brooklyns such lovely places); this is pot for sick people. Nothing more.
Melin’s right – and it’s galling for a libertarian-conservative. Allowing cops, district attorneys and the like set medical policy is just as stupid as letting letting health insurance companies write a national healthcare law. The entire reason for the opposition is the protection of their own little fiscal fiefdom.
As Craig Westover points out on Facebook (I won’t link to it, since not all of you are Facebook members), this is a fundamentally conservative stance, getting government out of the relationship between doctors and patients.
This is an issue where conservatives – especially those who care about liberty in its many forms – should be out front. Not cowering before a law-enforcement group that is largely beholden to “progressivism”.
I’m far less fine with the state having the ability to confiscate property without a full trial and conviction than with their meddling in weed consumption. But to address Melin’s point, if we do have civil forfeiture, let’s make all the proceeds go to the state general fund, not to the local agency. If you remove the incentive to steal, you’re less likely to get the behavior. I’d prefer to see that change regardless of the current debate on medical
Not that I’m fine with our drug laws, per se. What you (stupidly) do to yourself is none of the government’s business as long as the government isn’t expected to pay for it. Burn out your brain on weed? Sure, go for it, just don’t expect welfare in the future. (Yeah, too many of the folks I knew in high school went that route. Many of them complain about not being able to make a “living wage” these days, but pointing out that they’re not able to think clearly enough anymore to make them worth a “living wage” to employers is considered insensitive.)
I’ll never forget the Stearns County judge who privately referred to State Troopersas Hall Monitors, the kind of people who stop you from running in the halls – – for your safety, of course. The same sort of people who think you shouldn’t own a firearm for self-defense, you should call the cops when someone is breaking in – – for your safety, of course. And who don’t want you to drive after 2 drinks, or to smoke cigarettes ever, or ride without a helmet or let your dog hang his head out the window . . . they act like New Puritans, haunted by the fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
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A great dodge by Governor Dayton. I don’t see what the opinion of law enforcement has to do with what I see as a medical situation. I would have greater respect for a self-determined lack of support than I do for his poor imitation of Pontius Pilate.
I haven’t followed the issue intently, but like many my age I have sat vigil during the last moments of chronically ill loved ones. I was grateful for the morphine available to my father when his suffering got worse. Thank God he wasn’t allowed cannabis. He may have really gotten sick.
Law enforcement has it’s place, but not in the medical world. I hope supporting the governor’s anti-MJ stance doesn’t distract them from their gun-free stadium issue…
Cops are an area of disagreement between myself and not a few of my fellow conservatives. IT’s going to take a great effort, and a lot of people will be hurt before enough people realize that cops are not your friends to make a difference. We’ve all been conditioned to look for the “officer friendly” in stories of abuse, but there is no such person at that address.
With a few exceptions, and at best, they are a necessary evil that should be tightly controlled. Providing civilian LEO’s with fully operational and armed MRAPS is not the sort of control I’m talking about.
The groups Governor Dayton cites are hardly representative of most officers. Aside from wearing badges (and planning world domination and nuclear capability, of course), they have little in common with many of the rank and file.
I suggest that any government official seeking a truly representative LE response do so via the Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) Board. POST maintains the licenses of all law enforcement officers in the state. I suppose that’s a bit of an idealistic suggestion – many legal hurdles would have to be cleared to access the data. However, if accomplished, I suspect that the responses would look a lot different than those of Mr. Flaherty and his special interest siblings.
The MPPOAA and other politics-based LE groups have long been held in disfavor by those who resented the “we know best” attitude, political endorsements, and legislative support given without meaningful input from its dues-paying membership. Many members withdrew from the group for these reasons, with MPPOA’s support of anti-gun legislation a big motivator.
I believe that such a mechanism for seeking LE consensus would be welcomed by a significant majority of licensed MN LE officers. However, I doubt that POST, MPPOA, LELS, and the rest of “Big Acronym” would like it much.
“Allowing cops, district attorneys and the like set medical policy is just as stupid as letting letting health insurance companies write a national healthcare law. The entire reason for the opposition is the protection of their own little fiscal fiefdom. ”
Exactly so. A very large swath of American society seems to have forgotten just who’s the hired help.