ULISH CARTER
Here’s my take on some of the top news stories of last week.
Historic designation can be good, especially for businesses and nonprofits that can get special funding for historic renovation, but for the individual homeowner it can be devastating.
Historic designation means that all renovations or repairs you make to your home have to go through governmental channels first and must be approved. Everything must look like the original, which in most cases are extremely more expensive. For example windows generally have to be made from wood frames and double pane thermo windows are generally out of the question because if you can find them, the price—which is extremely high anyways—will be astronomical. Also when you go through government, instead of being able to use the person you know that does most of your work or do it yourself, now almost everything has to be done by a certified person, which leads to even more cost.
Bottom line a lot of people simply can’t afford to repair or remodel their homes in Historic Designated areas, which leads them to selling at a lower price than they would have liked or abandoning their home. Government officials need to take a closer look at Historic Preservation Designations throughout the city and be very careful as to where they make these designations. Wherever they have it they should make sure middle- and low-income homeowners are assisted instead of being pushed out.
Only 500 people showed up at the End the War on Drugs in D.C. There should have been more than 500 from D.C. alone. This was a major surprise especially with the national outcry to end the War on Drugs. It may be because the protesters are not totally clear on how they want the War on Drugs ended.
My take is they want all arrests for marijuana possession ended. They want the sentences for crack and cocaine to be the same.
I would say make all sentences the same for possession of illegal drugs, except marijuana. If it’s illegal, it’s illegal? So why the difference? Or simply not prosecute people for possession at all, only if it’s proven they intended to sell it.
I am a strong advocate of legalizing marijuana, which would clean out a lot of jails, and free up police officers to concentrate on hard drugs and crimes with victims. The last time I checked drug dealers aren’t forcing people to use drugs at gunpoint. In most cases the users are almost forcing dealers to sell them the items at gunpoint.
I still believe that this country needs to take a good close and hard look at itself. Why are we so into getting high? We are the number one illegal drugs using country on the planet, and if we added the illegal use of across the counter so called legal drugs—nobody wants to talk about this—we would be off the charts. And it’s not just Blacks, Latinos, and the poor Whites using. Middle and upper income Americans are buying far more drugs because they can afford it, yet the jails are filled with Blacks, Latinos, and poor Whites. Something is wrong with the system and this country.
Another big problem coming from the War on Drugs is all the people who go to jail then come out with felony records, which prevents them from getting jobs or keeping jobs. The felony tag needs to be taken off all drugs offenses, possession as well as selling. Once a person has served his or her time that should be it, no tag holding them back, they have served their time, paid their debt to society and should be allowed to move on with their lives.
So maybe the End the War on Drugs people need to be clearer on what their priorities are and go after them with a national effort.
My goals would be 1. Legalize marijuana. 2. Equalize all possession of illegal drugs sentencing. 3. Eliminate the felony tag on all drug charges which do not include violence. The felony tag should only be attached to violent criminals.
And last, but not least: Will the state be able to privatize our liquor stores? The House passed a bill, which catered to the Beer Distributors. The Senate is set to pass a bill that does not, which means the two will have to come together in compromise. The GOP controls both branches, but that doesn’t mean they will be able to agree. The Democrats are trying to protect the unions, while the Republicans are trying to set up a system where the rich can get richer by buying these super expensive licenses, where as the general public just wants to be able to walk into a Giant Eagle, Kuhn’s, SHOP ‘n SAVE, Wal-Mart, or where ever, and purchase a six pack of beer or other alcohol without having to make a separate trip to the state store. To be honest, if the rest of the stores became private or remain state controlled it doesn’t matter. Just make alcohol available everywhere, as in most other states.
(Ulish Carter is managing editor of the New Pittsburgh Courier)
Your comments are welcome.
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