Remember to say ‘thank you’

From The Orange County Register

We’re disappointed that White House press secretary Sean Spicer recently said “greater enforcement” of federal drug laws, including prohibition of marijuana, is coming.

“There’s a federal law that we need to abide by when it comes to recreational marijuana and other drugs of that nature,” he said. This, at a time when a majority of Americans support not only limiting federal enforcement of marijuana laws but outright legalizing the drug.

Such a move would run counter to multiple statements by Donald Trump on the campaign trail. “(In) terms of marijuana and legalization, I think that should be a state issue, state-bystate,” he said, for example, during a campaign rally on Oct. 29, 2015.

From a constitutional perspective, this is the most sensible and pragmatic approach to marijuana. Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution is there a provision granting the federal government the authority to prohibit intoxicants. In America’s prior engagement with the folly of prohibition, that of alcohol, proponents of prohibition at least had the decency to seek and obtain a narrowly worded constitutional amendment, the 18th Amendment, to justify federal intervention. This hasn’t been true of marijuana or other drugs.

Voters in most states that have been presented a ballot initiative on marijuana legalization have opted to approve it. Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Massachusetts, Nevada, Oregon, Washington and the District of Columbia have approved outright legalization for medicinal and recreational use, while a majority of states have approved marijuana for medicinal use.

Most Americans are simply ready to be done with the issue. A Quinnipiac poll released last month found 71 percent of Americans opposed to the enforcement of federal laws against marijuana in states that have legalized it for recreational or medicinal purposes. This includes 55 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of independents and 80 percent of Democrats. On the question of legalization, pollsters found support from 59 percent of respondents.

A renewal of a failed and constitutionally dubious federal crackdown on marijuana is simply not a priority of the American public. Gone are the days of reefer madness and even “Just Say No,” with legalization, taxation and regulation seen as a more efficacious and just means of combating the harms of marijuana use, while respecting the freedom of individual choice.

We encourage the federal government to take a hands-off approach toward marijuana. Meanwhile, we support efforts in Congress to remove marijuana from federal control.

Reps. Tom Garrett, R-Va., and Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, recently introduced the Ending Marijuana Prohibition Act of 2017, which would remove marijuana from the federal Controlled Substances Act and thus grant states the flexibility to deal with it. This bill should bring together those who believe in states’ rights, individual freedom and a sensible justice system.

The pretense of federal marijuana prohibition — that arresting users, growers and sellers of marijuana will prevent use of the drug — has long been shown to be nothing more than a harmful delusion that has criminalized far too many people. We encourage President Trump to do the right thing and allow states to make their own choices. Jim Morin, AP

Down through the years I have found out that there are some things that happen to you that money can’t buy. Someone does something for you out of their heart, money is not in the question. Someone holds the door open for you. You got your hands full and drop something, some one picks it up for you. Money can’t buy these acts of helping you. There are two words that go a long way when someone does something for you. “Thank You.”

People use the words thank you, over and over. There are some incidents that I remember when they should have been used but was not. I received a call from the police department to assist a man on the railroad tracks at Twelfth Street. I pulled in and checked out where I saw a man on the tracks. I motioned for him to come to me. He stood and looked at me. I again called to him asking what he needed. He never said any thing, he pointed to his foot. I walked up to see what his trouble was. This was one of our people who slept under the bridges. He was filthy and you could smell him when you got close to him. Looking at him I could see that he was getting over a drunk. His hair was long and shaggy and he needed a shave. His clothes was a pile of filthy rags.

I asked “What’s the matter?” In a slurred voice he indicated his foot. I looked down at a pair of filthy,wore out pair of tennis shoes.

Again I asked “What?” He pointed to his shoe again. Then I saw that some how he had got his foot hung between the rails.

I looked at it and said, “Pull your feet from the track.” He muttered “It’s stuck.” Then I saw what the trouble was. The shoe had a sole that stuck out from the side of the shoe. Where his foot was stuck was where the rail moved to let the train shift to a side track.

Much against my better judgment I tried to pull his foot free, and when I couldn’t, I called and told headquarters what I had. Dispatch called the railroad and told them what we had at Twelfth Street crossing. They called me back and said to get him off the tracks as fast as possible, as a train was due to come through in about thirty minutes. They were unable to get anyone there in time to throw the switch. I reached in my pocket and took out my knife. His face turned a dark red, he thought that I was going to cut off his foot. I began to split open the back of the shoe. Then a cut across the top. I pulled and his foot came loose. I picked up what was left of the shoe and handed it to him. I could hear the train coming in the distance.

I walked back to the patrol car and told headquarters that I had got him loose. I took out some hand cleanser and began to wash my hands. With red eyes and a blurred speech he spoke. I could not believe my ears, he was telling me that I was going to have to buy him a new pair of shoes. He had one shoe on and carrying one in his hands. The train was bearing down on us and I couldn’t hear what he was saying. LONIE ADCOCK Jim Powell of Young Harris Lisa Benson, Washington Post Writers Group When the train passed I asked him what he had said. He had put the cut shoe on his foot and tied it with a string that he had. He looked at me and in a very hard voice said “I am going to sue you for everything you have. I will see you in court.”

I watched as he hobbled off down 12th Street. I got back in the patrol car and drove off. I remember thinking what would have happened if I had not had a knife to cut his shoe.

I remember another incident where I was sent a bill for breaking out a glass in a door. One of my officers had called for a supervisor. I went to them and saw what was the problem. They had been sent to check on a lady who had not been seen for a while. I walked upon the porch where the officer stood.

“What’s the problem?” I asked. I was shown though the door the feet of someone lying in a hallway. All the doors and windows were closed and locked. The door had a small glass in it. I took a billy stick and broke out the glass. I reached though and unlocked the door. The officer with me had EMT training. He checked her and said she was still alive. We called the ambulance service and sent her to the hospital. Her son was notified and told to come and secure the door.

The woman recovered and I thought no more of the incident. The Chief met me at the back door a few days later and said, “Come with me, I want to show you something.” I followed him to his office wondering what I had done now. He picked up a letter from his desk and handed it to me. I began to read but could not believe it. The son of the lady, who I had broke the glass in the door to get in, had sent me a bill.

It read “due to the breaking of the glass in the door a cost had occurred in the amount of …” and there was a bill for an amount. He said that since I had broke the glass he felt I had ought to pay to have it fixed. I could not believe that some one would send a bill to me. The doctor at the hospital had said if we had not got the lady there when we did she would not have made it.

I remember taking out my money and handing some cash to the Chief. He shook his head saying, “Don’t you worry about it, I will take care of it.” I started to leave and I remember the Chief saying, “If you need to break another one today, do it. If someone had to tear a door down to save my mother’s life I would have gladly said ‘thanks’ and paid for the door.”

I realized that I had a job to, protect lives and property. I also know that the life of a policeman is thankless. They deal with all kinds of people every day. As the saying goes: They deal with the bad, the ugly and the good. The next time you get the chance, shake hands with your policeman and say, “Thank you.”

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