NE1: FitzGerald Act (Law)

[Deus Naturae]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Sponsor: Governor Dallasfan

Debate on this bill will last for 72 hours, or until 4:50 PM on Saturday June 7, unless modified or extended. The sponsor has  36 hours to advocate for this proposed legislation. If he does not, this bill will be tabled as there is other pending legislation in the queue.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

OK.

As we're all aware, several states in the United States have stood athwart its federal government's irrational drug policies, and have legalized marijuana for commercial use in some capacity (namely Colorado and Washington.) I would assume this is a good (and emulative) policy from the perspectives of the Northeast Representatives, whose minds have been tempered by research on the issue.

However, one thing that legalization has precipitated is alarmism amongst those in police departments and the media. There are reports of an increase in the amount of arrests for people driving under the influence of marijuana. It seems intuitive to think that marijuana legalization would lead to such an increase.

That's not necessarily the case, however. What authorities actually test for is cannabinol. However, as Jacob Sullum has documented at Reason, people can test positive for cannabinol for up to a week after usage. I'm not necessarily saying that one ought to drive while high, but it's obvious that this method could land law-abiding citizens behind bars.

Also, I'm not going to officially propose this as an amendment because I don't wish to derail the conversation, but how does the Assembly feel about this as an alternate text?

[quote]
FitzGerald Act

Section 1:

1. Upon passage of this legislation, THC testing shall no longer be used by law enforcement to prosecut cases of DUID (driving under impairment of drugs.)
2. Upon passage of this legislation, Northeastern public services and law enforcement agencies are banned from drug testing their employees for legal or decriminalized substances.

Section 2:

1. Upon passage of this legislation, Northeastern law enforcement agencies are hereby prohibited from using stun grenades (otherwise known as 'flashbangs.')

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Since there have been no objections, I'm going to amend my bill as the sponsor (provided I'm within my rights under the SOAP to do so) to read as I proposed in the previous post.

Why?

First of all, it doesn't make much sense to treat substances as legal, but then for our public departments to be enacting protocols that try and discourage (or prevent) behavior that we deem lawful. In my opinion, if there's a substance abuse problem that affects job performance, then that would be readily (or eventually) apparent and appropriate action could be taken.

On the subject of flashbangs? Flashbangs have the public perception of being non-lethal weapons that can incapacitate alleged criminals and try to diffuse a situation without injury. Real life isn't a Call of Duty DLC however, and flashbangs can indeed harm or even kill.

[Napoleon]

The employees aren't allowed to be drug tested- I remember passing a bill for that when I was in the senate.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

The employees aren't allowed to be drug tested- I remember passing a bill for that when I was in the senate.

I thought that might've been the case, but I wasn't sure if that was just federal or not.

Here's the relevant legislation, after a stroll down the Statute page.

[Deus Naturae]

The debate period is now over. We will now move to a final vote on this bill, as amended:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Voting will last for 48 hours or until all members have voted.

Edit: Sorry about that, I need to get some sleep.

[#CriminalizeSobriety]

Why isn't this being voted on as amended?

[Dr. Cynic]

Aye

[SWE]

Aye

[BaconBacon96]

Aye.

[Deus Naturae]

Aye

[Deus Naturae]

The Governor has signed this bill into law.