Reply to Initiative 81

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The whole purpose of Initiative 81 seems to be to give police and the prosecutor's office a pass on doing their jobs which is to enforce the law.  Instead of addressing the drug problem or reforming the system, DC just wants the voters to let them off the hook.  Public drug use is getting worse in the city - why is the proposed solution to decriminalize drugs even more??

For many of us who live in the city with young kids, it's becoming untenable.  And for those of you with babies and toddlers who are unconcerned about the impact of these decriminalization laws, come talk to me once your kids are old enough to see what's happening and ask questions.  If you are truly committed to raising your kids in the city long term, you should be troubled by these initiatives.  [/quote]

Is 11 old enough for you?  And no plans to move.  We have open and honest talks about drugs. I've never taken anything more than alcohol, but I'm familiar enough with what the various did are around here.

I'm not trying to shelter my kids from drugs.  They will make their own decisions.  I'm just going to make sure they understand. And if they need help they'll call me.[/quote]

Yeah we are not on the same page.  I am simply not ok with my kids seeing open, public drug use. I’m also not ok with my kids using drugs.  I don’t know any parents who are as laidback about this as you are.  If not wanting to see drug use means I’m sheltering my kids, so be it. [/quote]

Maybe I'm not explaining it well.  Let's try sex education as a corollary. I don't think abstinence-only is a good way to teach kids.  Of course I don't want to encourage my kids to have sex as teenagers, but that is something that I can't fully control. They will be in situations where they will need to make those decisions on their own.  Teaching them everything good/bad/ugly about sex seems like the right approach.  At 11 it's been pretty limited, but it's an ongoing conversation.

Same goes for drugs.  I don't want them to take drugs.  I think the best way to get there is not abstinence-only.  It's teaching them about why people do drugs, what they say feels good about it, and what the downsides are.  Facts, not scare tactics.  That way they also know they can trust me if they have questions about it or if they made a poor choice and need help.[/quote]

Educating our kids about drugs is a completely different issue than decriminalizing drug use and sales. I am all for the education part. Just not sure why that has to entail watching people smoke weed in public. To use your example, you aren’t teaching your kid about sex by exposing him to it right?[/quote]

There's a big difference between taking a child to a sex show and seeing someone smoke a joint. They see people smoking cigarettes already and they see me drinking alcohol.  I don't think we're anywhere near the point where people are shooting heroin all over the place in public. Hell, I don't even know how people take mushrooms. Eat them?  Tea?  Pizza toppings??!

In fact, seeing someone drugged out is great education.  I'd be happy to go gawking with my 11 year old.  See that guy with the fifth of gin who shit his pants.  Want to be him? No?  See that stoner who's making a fool of himself?  Better not be stoned in public or outside of people you really trust. Remember instagram and Twitter? or whatever the kids are doing now - tik tok and venmo.  See that person being taken away in an ambulance catatonic?  Might be K2/spice or fentanyl laced into something you have no control over.  Want some drugs now?

I'm not seeing the problem here.[/quote]

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