Should “Blunt Wraps” Be Illegal to Purchase & Sell?!?

I hear this debate all the time over “should marijuana become legalized”?  And the answer in my opinion is no for a variety of reasons.  The main reason though is due to the physical and psychological effects that marijuana has on the body. I’ll give you the short version: Marijuana’s active ingredient is THC, which is fat soluble.  This means, THC clings to the fattest organ(s) in the body which happens to be the brain.  This causes weed users to easily forget new things they’ve learned and a lot more effects.  Enough of the scientific talk though, back to our regular scheduled program.

A clergy (full of Chicago religious figures and leaders) and police officers have joined forces in the fight against marijuana and illegal paraphernalia.  They’ve recently backed a ban which is being pushed to the General Assembly to classify blunt wraps (as seen above) to be classified as drug  paraphernalia.  These wraps come in various flavors and are said to target urban youth.  That combined w/ the fact that they are inexpensive and can be found at any convenience store or gas station, and its no wonder they’ve raised so many eyebrows. 

“Having this product in mainstream stores is like having drug pushers in our neighborhoods,” Bishop Larry Trotter, the pastor at Sweet Holy Spirit Church, said today. “Blunt wraps are an indefensible product marketed to children and entirely identified with illegal drug use.”

By allowing “blunt wraps” to be legally sold in stores, you’re saying to consumers we know that some may use marijuana, so here’s what you need to use that particular drug.  It totally goes against the law which says that possessing, manufacturing and/or distributing marijuana is illegal.

Weigh in and tell us is it ok to make marijuana illegal, but allow for items associated w/ it to be legally sold in stores?  What should happen next?

Source

-Ron

Israel Idonije:”The Chi is like Lord of the Flies”

I read this over at GlobalGrind and thought I’d share this w/ everyone:

“As I heard the news about Derrion Albert, the 16-year-old young scholar who was murdered, my heart wept. It wept because he was murdered by a group of high schoolers-his peers, a senseless death. While countless others stood by and watched, another young life was wasted. So I have to ask myself what’s going on? What’s going on in our society? A society that has morphed into a dark world where too many young lives are ended before truly beginning. An undeserved death sentence, for a very deserving soul, a soul that was taken away before its time. When is enough, enough? Something must change!

Upon reflecting, I’m reminded of the novel, Lord of the Flies. This novel mirrors the story of our inner city and the plight of our youth. Caught in the middle of a war, a plane transporting a group of young men is shot out of the air and crashes onto a deserted island.  This island represents our inner cities- an environment where ALL struggle to survive. Even though the rest of the world knows of the struggle, very few have an understanding of how harsh life can be or how to escape it.

In the book, after the crash, the youth are left to fend for themselves and must find a way to survive. The optimism of being saved quickly fades, along with order and the common sense they once had. The environment inevitably overtakes the young men, they become transformed by the island into heartless savages and senselessly kill anyone or anything opposing them. In a fight for his life the last remaining keeper of peace is hunted down by the mob of youth, and just as he is about to be caught, he falls to the ground and upon looking up he sees a Navel officer and a ship set in the distant waters.  At this sight, the raging mob was instantly transformed back to the gentlemen they once were.

Our kids are lost, and the environment that surrounds them is a powerful force causing them to transform for the worse and not the better.  The children in the story were saved because of hope. Despite the hostile environment, just a glimpse of genuine hope can reset the direction of our communities and save our children’s lives. 

An estimated 130 people have been killed in Chicago this summer. And in the last 14 months more than 36 students have lost their lives.  Where was the hope for Derrion Albert? Where was the hope for Alex Arellano? Itzel Fernandez, where was her Hope?  Ernest Williams, Julian King, Brian Murdock, Quentin Buckner, Devour Robinson, Dushawn Johnson, Isiah Stroud, Andre Stephens, Esteban Martinez, Johnel Ford, Rachael Beauchamp, Johnny Edwards, Kendrick Pitts, Raheem Washington, and the countless others, is there Hope for our youth?

Hope is what we need, it’s ALL we need.  Not a “fly by night” type of hope… we need a Hope Ship that we can board, and that we can trust to sail us in a better direction.”

Israel “Izzy” Idonije
#71, Chicago Bears

Smarten Up: Kid accidentally Shoots Himself!!

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that earlier this morning, a 17 year old from the Back of the Woods Neighborhood accidentally shot himself while playing w/ a gun in the alley.  He’s listed in fair condition right now, but shot himself in the abdomen area.  The Chicago Police do plan to press charges on the teenage boy for discharging a gun and having an unregistered weapon.  Didn’t people learn anything from the infamous Plaxico Burress.  I believe today, he’s more known for shooting himself in the club as opposed to helping the Giants win a SuperBowl Title.

Kids guns aren’t cool and definitely do more damage than good.  Not only can they hurt or kill others around you, but they can also hurt you.  Now this kid, may be tried as an adult and face criminal charges for hurting himself.  Not only did he hurt himself physically, but he definitely hurt his future!!! Smarten Up!!!

-Ron

Killing spree over Breakup: Is It Worth It?!?

Ricardo Marchan was very upset after the breakup w/ his girlfriend.  So what did he do? Kick & scream…No.  Get into petty fights…No.  Carry an attitude w/ everyone…Well, kinda.  He went on a violent rampage that resulted in the deaths of two innocent people.  He shot Michael Hernandez (an 18 year old planning on heading to college) in the back on the head and Patrick Cregan (a pizza-man who was on the job at the time) in the back of the head as well.  Both died instantly.  But the heartless Marchan didn’t stop and even robbed two guys on Aug 2nd.  After firing shots in the air, to prove the gun was real, police ran onto the scene and captured the twisted former boyfriend.  Tests revealed his gun was used in the two previous murders and now the heartless individual faces 2 counts of murder and one count of armed robbery.

Violence is never the way, especially when trying to vent out frustration and anger.  Never act on emotions but instead harness that energy and learn from it.  The results can be dreadful and cost you your life.  Just ask Ricardo Marchan.  Was the breakup w/ his girlfriend so heart-wrenching that two people had to die?  I know she’ll never want him back now, if ever a time she did!

In the words of Kanye West “How could you be so heartless?”

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-Ron

Childless Man No Longer in Child Support Debt

I know, I know…how can a man w/ no child be in debt for child support? Better yet, how can that same man be jailed for over a year for non-payment of child support?  Well the Atlanta courts has an answer, I think. 

The story goes that Frank Hatley had a relationship w/ a women in 1986 and she gave birth to a little boy.  She told Hatley, the child was his but soon after the two split up and never lived together.  Soon afterwards, she filed for public assistance and under Georgia law, the state can re-coup assistance from a child’s non-custodial parent (i.e. the deadbeat).  For 13 years, Hatley made payments to the state until learning in 2000 that the boy might not be his. A DNA test that year confirmed the child was not fathered by Hatley, court documents said.  He returned to court and was relieved of any future child support payments, but was ordered to pay more than $16,000 he owed the state before the ruling.  He fell behind on his payments b/c of losing his job multiple times and wound up in jail for non-payment of child support.

Today he’s a free man!  Word of advice: That best way to prevent pregnancy is through safe sex. Always use protection or this could be you!!  I know a few people that would go crazy once they found out they weren’t the child’s father.

-Ron