Our country is going down a very slippery slop as our lawmakers become more and more polarized as the months drag on. This increase in political polarization on capital hill benefits no one and is unjust to the system that our founding fathers created. Yes, our legislative processes are intended to have constant collisions between different ideological positions in order to create resolutions (compromise) to better the state of our union, but not the levels of conflict that we see today.
Political compromises are entrenched in our history and have lead to great strides in the development of American democracy, and although bi-partsianship may seem like a rarity in Washington today, it does still exist.
As new types synthetic narcotics sweep the streets of American cities our law makers have taken notice and put their polarizing ideologies aside in order to tackle this new artificial drug craze. On Thursday September 17th 2015 Congressman Charlie Dent introduced a bill ( H.R. 3537, the Synthetic Drug Control Act of 2015) to the House that would confront and combat the spread of these fake drugs. But Dent, a Republican, is not alone in this fight and some of his strongest supporters on this issue come from across the isle. Democrats Jim Himes of Connecticut and Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia support Dents bill for both security and personal reasons. For Jim Himes this issue hits very close to home because one of his interns was stabbed and murdered by an individual that was under the influence of these synthetic drugs.
In order for this article to do justice on the issue of artificial drug manufacturing and consumption it is important for the reader to understand what these synthetic compounds are and the legal loopholes that allow them to be sold. My knowledge of these fake drugs stems from shadowing my father, a criminal defense attorney, who has represented individuals that have manufactured these substances or committed criminals while intoxicated on them. The most basic description is that these compounds contain multiple different types of plant matter used to make poperrii that are then sprayed down with synthetic chemicals that are supposed to mimic the affects of marijuana and other drugs. The problem that arises is that these chemicals are new compounds that are unknown and unregulated by the government. These compounds can be easily manipulated to create other types of mixtures by adding or subtracting certain chemicals. This has prevented the government from producing blanket legislation for these types of drugs because they are constantly changing. Congress did actually pass a synthetic drug act in 2012 but since then it has been bypassed because of the constant development of new compounds.
This bi-partisan support for a Republican originated bill only reaffirms the fact that we are all Americans and when something as serious as a synthetic drug epidemic develops our lawmakers will come together and solve the problem. "Neither the fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. And our duty as a Party is not to our Party alone, but to the nation" - John F. Kennedy
http://blogs.rollcall.com/hill-blotter/lawmakers-take-aim-at-synthetic-drugs/?dcz=
http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2015/05/stop_selling_synthetic_marijua.html
http://dent.house.gov/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=B2211A98-A331-483D-AA19-DAEC6DD71E77
2 comments:
I think it is interesting that within the past few years that the bulk of bi-partisan support has gone towards legislation that has to deal with issues that are detrimental to the citizens of the United States'well beings. It's not really a surprise, because I believe it is safe to say that any U.S. Senator or Congressman cares wholeheartedly about the lives and well being of those who they represent. It baffles me, however, that there are many other issues that don't necessarily have to do with the well being of U.S. citizens, but still greatly affect the lives of them, that are so polar among the two parties. I think one would argue that compromise would be the best for all of the population on almost any level of legislation, but neither party seems willing to compromise with the other on almost any issue. Senators and Congressman do care about their country a great deal, but perhaps they are becoming too attached to their parties to make the splashes in legislation that they should be. Maybe if the legislative branch gains more moderate candidates on both sides, then the stalemate between the parties will dissipate.
It is interesting to see how polarized our Congress has been for so long and on so many issues. I would think, and I feel as though many would agree with me, that our lawmakers would want to come together to help the people in the country that they love so much. As a people, we come together in times of need and when there is a very serious issue at hand that has already captured the lives of many. In this case, our Congress is coming together because these synthetic drugs are harming the lives of Americans but why can't they come together on other issues that maybe don't affect us in such a clear way. If they really cared abut their constituents and the US, our lawmakers would want to put their differences aside and compromise for the good of all of the people they have been elected to serve. I am happy to see though that on this issue, Congress has come together to make their way towards a resolution.
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