That Devil Weed State Legislature

We're coming up on the November election, and I'm seeing some interesting things online.

One of the things to consider: A proposition to allow the state legislature - and the state legislature only - decide whether to legalize marijuana.

I might be in favor of medical marijuana. I'm not thrilled with the prospect of recreational marijuana. I'm totally against the state legislature getting any more power than they already have.

Earlier this year, they slashed budgets and, in part, cut mental health funding for in-home care. At least three people died as the result of this cut in funding, which they hastily restored after the deaths and the associated brouhaha.

What they want to do is carve out part of the citizen initiative process to allow only the legislature to make decisions on marijuana. I don't trust them. All it really is is a foot in the door in shutting down the initiative process, consolidating more power in a state legislature that's already pretty power-hungry.

Yes, we can contact our representatives to let our thoughts be known. I've done that a lot. But there is no guarantee they'll listen to anything but what they already believe or what they want to hear.

Handing this power to the legislature rather than keeping it within the direct purview of voters adds a level of gatekeeping I'm not comfortable handing over.

There are many in the legislature who are openly hostile to the initiative process. Give them a little power and they become emboldened to take a little more.

Who cares if the initiative process wasn't part of how the state set up its laws originally? That's a pretty weak argument to make. "Gee, you didn't have this power before you asked for it, so let's just take it away." That's all I'm hearing in that quarter.