State Rep. Mike Shirkey will host a citizen town
hall event in Jackson County on Aug. 14 to help create a public dialogue on drug enforcement
strategies and policy. Shirkey
said the debate needs to happen, based on both the citizen initiative that
legalized medicinal marijuana and the introduction of legislation such as House
Bill 4623, which would impose fines instead of jail time for the possession of
small amounts of recreational marijuana.
"Michigan
citizens expect and demand that we strive to balance the needs of personal
freedom, public safety, pain management and a host of other factors as we
determine how to best spend the people's tax dollars," said Shirkey, R-Clarklake.
"Are we forcing law enforcement to police and jail recreational marijuana
users instead of using time and money that should be going to battle our meth
lab epidemic? Are we limiting reasonable options to end-of-life pain management
by putting excessive restrictions on medicinal marijuana? Those are
questions that politicians, law enforcement, and most importantly the general
public, need to actively discuss and answer."
The
town hall, which is free and open to the public, takes place from 5-7 p.m. at
the Grass Lake Township Hall, 373 Lakeside Drive.
Shirkey
is inviting several people to speak and is hopeful for a large turnout,
regardless of people's position on the issue. State Rep. Jeff Irwin, the
author of HB 4623, will attend as will former prosecutor James Gierach, a
member of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP).
Seventeen
states have some type of marijuana decriminalization laws on the books,
according to LEAP, and the organization said they were interested in coming to
the Jackson area in part because of a local petition drive addressing
decriminalization.
"My
time working with law enforcement as a Cook County prosecutor and municipal
attorney showed me firsthand how frequently we are turning average citizens
into criminals and not spending enough time tracking down and dealing with the
true bad guys in this equation," Gierach said. "You can be both
tough and appropriate with drug enforcement once you start to differentiate and
realize the serious downsides of a one-size-fits-all policy. We've
already seen that with alcohol and prohibition, and I think we're going to see
that very soon with recreational marijuana use as well."
People
with questions may call Rep. Shirkey's office at (517)
373-1775. Gierach will also be making himself available for private
meetings with interested public officials by appointment, and can be reached
through the LEAP offices at (315) 243-5844.
