South Dakota's video loottery more damaging than cannabis

Veterans are often shamed at clinics for seeking relief from the stress of their service: the US Department of Health and Human Services holds the patent for medical cannabis.

South Dakota's governor has proposed drug courts for persons caught possessing less-than-felonious amounts of cannabis: a measure clearly meant to reduce costs of law enforcement, overcrowding in state facilities, and the associated burdens to society. Legislation being prepared is apparently designed to address addiction but stigmatizes and shames persons for whom the use of cannabis should be as protected as it is for carrying a firearm. Red staters are those who can deny civil liberties to those “able-bodied” adults and uphold religious rights as absolutes.

Blumenauer: 'The next step is removing marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.' http://t.co/ENmkX7TsVO
— The Hill (@thehill) January 25, 2014

Medical Marijuana Petition Hits Goal http://t.co/6j3IZ9oI4E
— WUSF (@wusf) January 24, 2014

UPDATE: Gov. Hickenlooper praises Eric Holder's #marijuana banking announcement: http://t.co/TJ8NABvOII
— The Denver Post (@denverpost) January 24, 2014

Have you called on @BarackObama to remove #marijuana from the DEA's schedule of drugs yet? Sign our petition now! https://t.co/yr6b9wihf1
— MPP Marijuana Policy (@MarijuanaPolicy) January 24, 2014

Comes this from the editorial board of the Mitchell Daily Republic:

How strange it is to hear the state openly pine for a new generation of gamblers, hoping a younger group will take the place of older gamblers and help the state maintain fiscal viability. It’s no secret that state government is addicted to gambling, as are some of the state’s residents. Although some people do actually play simply as an occasional sport, others are entirely and thoroughly hooked, willing to wager their grocery money, rent or family fortunes. To hear that a state official is openly hoping to “get the younger folks involved” stunned us. What have we become? [Our view: What has lottery done to S. Dakota? Mitchell Daily Republic]

New year, new career. Now hiring correctional officers in Sioux Falls, Pierre. http://t.co/XI4d5iz7TG
— South Dakota DOC (@SouthDakotaDOC) January 24, 2014

Returning veterans seen as vulnerable to compulsive gambling: http://t.co/jgoC6rQi8X http://t.co/adAV3qlNDh #sdsen #sdleg #redstatefailure
— interested party (@larry_kurtz) January 24, 2014

As a rule, religionists get pilloried at interested party.

South Dakota representative and Sioux Falls pastor, Steve Hickey has been sounding more like a progressive than a member of the earth hater party lately: he often posts tough questions for his dying red state at his blog, Voices Carry.

Hickey dislikes video loottery even as I hate it: it destroys through class warfare and discriminates against a single income base contributing to addiction, desperation and crime. Capitalism relies on coveting, after all.

Rep. Hickey laments the state's reliance on the dole from the feds as he fails to embrace the obvious revenue possibilities of the responsible cultivation and consumption of a relatively safe adults-only pastime, not to mention a renewable source of protein, and some likely pending industrial ag wet dream like Monsanto GMO cannabis.

Hardly surprisingly, the chemical toilet's worst legislators crushed a bill last session that would have allowed a medical necessity argument in cases where those in the law enforcement industries arrest chronic pain sufferers.

From the Sioux Falls Argus Leader's John Hult:

House bill 1227 would have provided for a medical necessity defense in marijuana cases. The House Health and Human Services committee voted 7-6 to defer the bill to the 41st legislative day, effectively defeating the measure.

These are the same people who believe the Second Amendment is more important than the First.

On tomorrow's live show we'll also talk about medical #marijuana with our guest Cynthia Kuhn: http://t.co/M6emRAY6Nj pic.twitter.com/3ILfI8SpyW
— The Peoples Pharmacy (@PeoplesPharmacy) January 24, 2014

One opponent of the measure, Rep. Melissa Magstadt (earth hater-Watertown), is a nurse practitioner backed by Big Pharma. Rep. Hickey is in the pockets of christofascists.

No one believes that adolescents should have access to video loottery either yet they bet freely in gray markets all the time and engage in commerce just like adults do.

It is horrifying to watch this extremist red state legislature stop more laws seeking to control teen drinking while hiding its federal DUI failures and blowing its wad on cannabis interdiction.