25 Feb HB 1482: THE HOUSE MEMBERS THAT PROPOSED IT, AND WHY THEY THINK THE CITIZENS OF OKLAHOMA ARE STUPID.
It’s true that if you want a good laugh then you should tell anyone that the “government is just looking out for you”. Go ahead turn to the person to your left or right and say those exact words. Now, do me a favor and leave a comment with their response or a short description of their facial expression.
The reason why we give that response is because each person is endowed with not only certain inalienable rights as Locke and Jefferson so eloquently pointed out, but with something called common sense as well. As is generally the case every time our legislature comes into session, the point is consistently proven over and over that our government and those representing us just aren’t all that good at representing US. Let me introduce a few folks to you that think Oklahomans are stupid, gullible people.
House representatives, Scott Biggs, Leslie Osborn, Mike Sanders, and Tim Downing (counter-clockwise from top left). Last year Oklahomans overwhelming supported State Questions 780 and 781, these questions concerned criminal justice reform. Namely it reduced simple possession from being a felony to a misdemeanor and put an emphasis on rehabilitation rather than incarceration for persons arrested for drug crimes. Oklahoma has some of the most oppressive drug laws in the country and one of the highest populations of convicted felons per capita.
For years people like the politicians listed above have sought reelection on the promise that there is a Boogeyman out there responsible for everything bad that happens in your community, the drug pusher. This unseemly character is the target of “America’s War on Citizens…er Drugs”. It is the longest war we have waged in the history of this nation, and hasn’t resulted in anything positive. When faced with the proposition of trying something different, like treating drug addiction rather than criminalizing it to the point of senseless incarceration and punishment, the people chose rehabilitation. But Oklahomans are idiots.
Now these folks don’t want to just come out and say you are idiots, you might be smart enough to catch on. Instead they crafted HB 1482 and called it “The Keep Oklahoma Kids Safe from Illegal Drugs Act”. What? You are considering being opposed to this act? You like kids to be in danger?
The new law would make it a felony if you are in possession of a controlled dangerous substance within 1000 feet of a school, park, university, day care center, recreation center, or even a child under the age of twelve…so anywhere. This would essentially reverse exactly what the citizens of the state voted for. So why not call it the “We Think You’re Wrong and are Going to Reverse Your Vote Act”? Well because these folks think that would be too truthful so they called it something that would appear to suggest that you hate children if you oppose it.
Addiction is real and it affects persons of all ages and in all kinds of situations. Often time’s children are caught up in a family member’s battle with addiction, and the trauma of separating these children from their parents to satisfy the need to “lock’em up” is tremendous. The War on Drugs has left scores of children parentless, homeless, and desperate, but rarely “safe”. There are many noble causes and issues facing the State of Oklahoma, but reversing the will of the poeple just doesn’t feel like one of them.
Dear legislature, we’re not the stupid ones. We just happen to be the ones with a little common sense.
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