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It’s Time For Oregon To Admit Decriminalizing Drugs Has Gone Horribly Wrong

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The old Prohibition joke is that the United States outlawed alcohol right when people needed a drink the most. It’s an ironic joke considering the last thing anybody needs when they’re going through a crisis of “Depression” is an addictive substance that alters your mental state.

Fast forward to 2020, when the state of Oregon repealed another prohibition of illicit drugs nearly 100 years later. Nine months into the pandemic, with its Measure 110, Oregon became the first state in the nation to decriminalize the possession of drugs such as methamphetamines, heroin, LSD, Oxycodone, MDMA, Methadone, and Psilocobyn. Individuals caught with such drugs are now given a small fine and referred to drug addiction services rather than charged.

The theory behind the effort to decriminalize drugs is that it is the legal consequences of using drugs, not the drugs themselves, that ruin people’s lives. On the one-year anniversary of Measure 110, proponents of the legislation celebrated the “thousands of Oregonians  this year that have or will avoid the devastating life-long consequences of a drug arrest, that can include the loss of employment, educational opportunities, housing, public benefits, child custody and immigration status.” Advocates of the measure tend not to mention the devastating life-long consequences of using drugs, resting their argument instead on the notion that the costs associated with drug law enforcement — or the “war on drugs” — could be earmarked for use in harm reduction and addiction recovery services.

Only there’s a glaring problem: It’s not working. Oregon now has

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Pennsylvania County Ditches Drop Boxes, Citing Security Concerns

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Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, will reportedly not use drop boxes this election cycle citing concerns of “illegal activities.”

Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo sent a notice to county election officials on Wednesday saying the county lacked the “capability” to ensure the drop boxes were safe locations for voters to leave their ballots, according to WNEP.

“While I recognize that drop boxes can provide alternative means for voters to cast their ballots, I must prioritize the safety and security of our community in the current political climate,” Crocamo said. “We don’t have the capability, we don’t have the number of staff members to actually stand by the drop boxes to keep them safe, so I decided I’m not going to deploy them.”

Crocamo reportedly expressed concern about “illegal activities,” and she noted that, while drop boxes are equipped with video surveillance, this alone is not a “foolproof means of ensuring compliance with voting laws.”

“Mail-in Ballots come in from a dropbox,” Crocamo reportedly said. “We have to have two staff also do a chain of custody, so actually, it does drain a lot of our resources.”

Voters can drop their ballots off at the Bureau of Elections or mail their ballots in, according to WNEP.

Other Pennsylvania counties concerned about the security of ballot drop boxes have implemented safeguards ahead of November. In Bucks County, “each drop box is located within a government building,” which means the “boxes are only accessible during the hours the government building is open,” as Texas

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Fontes, GOP Ask AZ Supreme Court To Allow 100K Electors To Vote Full-Ballot Following Registration ‘Error’

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Arizona’s Democrat secretary of state and Republicans are asking the state supreme court to allow nearly 100,000 electors to vote “full-ballot” this November after it was discovered an error by government officials put their ability to vote in state and local races in jeopardy.

“We will not stand by as voters are disenfranchised, especially so close to an election,” Arizona GOP Chair Gina Swoboda said in a statement. “Rushing to disenfranchise voters now would not only be illegal but would severely undermine confidence in our elections.”

As my colleague Brianna Lyman reported, the issue in question came to light earlier this week when state officials revealed they “found approximately 97,000 voters who are currently listed as full-ballot voters despite having not fulfilled the requirement to provide documentary proof of citizenship to vote in statewide elections.” The error appears to have resulted “from the way the Motor Vehicle Division provides driver’s license information to the state’s voter registration system,” according to left-leaning Votebeat Arizona.

Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said these voters “lean more heavily Republican” and are between 45-60 years old, as reported in the Votebeat article.

In Arizona, voters registering via state registration form must provide documentary proof of citizenship (DPOC) to vote in state and local races. Those who are unable to provide such proof are registered as “federal-only” voters and can only cast ballots in federal races.

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer filed a lawsuit with the Arizona Supreme Court on Tuesday, asking that the secretary be forced

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Conservative Legal Group Sues Gavin Newsom For Hiding Child Gender ‘Transitions’ From Parents

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A conservative legal nonprofit is suing California Gov. Gavin Newsom for state prohibitions that prevent schools from telling parents about student requests to identify as a different gender without the student’s consent.

In July, the state’s far-left governor signed Assembly Bill 1955, which bars school officials from notifying parents when their children go by different names or request to use bathrooms for the opposite sex unless the children consent to the notification. The bill further bars any policy that would require schools to inform parents of their child’s gender “transition.” The pro-Trump legal foundation, America First Legal, filed a lawsuit Wednesday to challenge the law on behalf of California parents and the City of Huntington Beach, which has been resisting Sacramento radicalism since conservatives captured a majority on the town council two years ago.

“This law violates the 14th Amendment, which guarantees the rights of parents to make decisions about their minor children regarding all medical treatment — in this case, social ‘transitioning,’” the nonprofit said in a press release. “Fit parents are presumed to act in the best interest of their child. The government cannot intervene in their relationship simply because it does not like the parents’ decision.”

The California law is the first of its kind at the statewide level, as many parents grapple with whether to remain on the West Coast given the hostility toward parents who protest radical gender policy. Last year, California Republican state Sen. Scott Wilk bluntly recommended parents “flee” to keep their children.

“In the

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