Most believe that legalizing recreational marijuana is a done deal; perhaps it is. But that does not mean debate on the issue should cease. Maybe abortion is a done deal. Maybe gun control is a done deal. But in the hearts and minds of people the questions still persist. What is right? What is fair? What is just? What is best?
We know other states have legalized recreational use, but the jury is still out on how these social experiments are going to work. They are promoting a different society than the one that made us a land of opportunity.
The N.M. Senate’s proposed solution to problems experienced by other states is to let state government run the business. State employees selling pot. The government collecting your personal information each time you walk in that door on what you buy, how much you buy and when you buy it. Is this what you want? When was the last time you have been in the MVD? That is a business run by the state. That “solution” will make the problems worse.
New Mexico is its own special case.
Few entrepreneurs succeed here, and jobs have been fleeing. We have become a hollowed-out state. Nearly one out of every two people is on public assistance. There is extremely high welfare and extremely limited job opportunities. Add marijuana to that mix and you will have more crime, greater family instability and more traffic accidents.
Secondly, recreational drugs reduce ambition and personal responsibility; N.M. will experience more welfare and even poorer educational scores. We are already 50th in U.S. educational achievement. Let Colorado over the next five years say if it’s worth it, then we’ll consider this drug. Someone has to speak for families trying to raise their kids to aspire to succeed. Someone has to speak for families who have experienced great turmoil because of drug or alcohol abuse.
Our governor and Legislature are not acting in the best interest of the families of New Mexico when they raise taxes, expand late-term abortion to full-term abortion, impose gun controls, kill our jobs or legalize recreational marijuana. They are following a national agenda that hurts the hard-working families that strive to live quiet lives and raise their children to be productive citizens. Who will speak for these everyday families?
The Republican Party is the party of values, character and freedom. Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, said it best: We have a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Special interests have unduly influenced the political system for too long. It is time for us to curb the power of the elites and return it to the everyday man and woman who makes this country work. We fight for the American Dream and forgotten working-class men and women. We protect our children, born and soon to be. We fight for families, even when the fight may not be popular. We do not capitulate. Give up? Quit? Not in our vocabulary. This country is great because we do not give in to changing political winds that will be unhealthy for our state and country; we fight for what is right. Who will speak for single mothers working two jobs and struggling to keep their kids on the right path?
The Republican Party will.
Because we fight for families and our children’s future, the Republican Party of New Mexico opposes SB 577, HB 356 and other attempts to legalize recreational marijuana.
