Page 1 |
Save page Remove page | Previous | 1 of 8 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
Large
Extra Large
Full Size
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
This page
All
|
The Brown and White Vol. 134 No. 21 Friday, April 27, 2018 ‘All the Lehigh News First’ Bethlehem seeks to decriminalize marijuana A city council ordinance proposes more lenient penalties Lehigh hosts Democratic congressional debate By JORDAN WOLMAN Assistant News Editor The Bethlehem city council is seeking to lessen the penalties for marijuana possession. An ordinance proposed by coun-cilwoman Olga Negron is intend-ed to provide fairer, more propor-tionate consequences compared to other drug violations. “Marijuana does not belong in the same level that cocaine and harder drugs are included in,” Negron said. “I believe we should be legalizing it and taxing it. It will change the opioid problem that we have and lessen the kill-ing and the drug dealing and the gangs.” Marijuana’s federal status as a Class I drug, despite its grow-ing presence in American society, was also a motivation behind the proposal. “There’s a sea of change going on nationally, and eventual-ly we’ll see decriminalization nationwide,” councilman Adam Waldron said. “I think the city is wasting some resources enforcing the current law on marijuana.” The proposed ordinance fol-lows similar decriminaliza-tion efforts that succeeded in other Pennsylvania cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Still, the process of turning the proposal into law could be com-plicated. Waldron said the biggest point of contention is that Bethlehem — because part of the city lies in Northampton County and the other in Lehigh County — has two district attorneys with differ-ent opinions on the matter. Waldron said the DA of Northampton County decided to leave the issue to the munici-palities, meanwhile the Lehigh County DA has said the proposal would be unconstitutional under Pennsylvania law. “The Lehigh County DA has written a formal memo threaten-ing the police chief for obstruction of justice for not following state law,” Waldron said. “In theory, there is unanimous support for the ordinance (on the city coun-cil).” Councilman Michael Colon, the chairman of Bethlehem’s public safety committee, said if the ordi-nance is passed, it would create a situation the city has not yet seen. “This contradiction between the two DAs is rather unusual,” Colon See MARIJUANA Page 3 Courtesy of Creative Commons Bethlehem city councilwoman Olga Negron has proposed an ordinance that would reduce the consequences of marijuana possesion. The Lehigh County DA opposes the ordinance, while the neighboring Northampton County DA has decided to leave the issue to municipalities. ident of Resurrected Community Development Corporation; Roger Ruggles, a member of the Easton city council since 2008 and a vet-eran of the U.S. Air Force; and Rick Daugherty, former chairman of the Lehigh County Democratic Committee and district adminis-trator for Rep. Paul McHale. Each of the candidates discussed four major issues our nation is fac-ing right now. Immigration policy Wild said the United States should make life easier for asy-lum and refugee seekers and is heavily opposed to the travel ban implemented by the Trump Administration, as well as the concept of building a wall along the border between the U.S. and Mexico. “It’s very telling that no member of Congress from a border state supports the process of building a wall,” Wild said. Daugherty said one of the big-gest immigration issues can be traced to American foreign policy in Central and South American countries. He believes the U.S. the U.S. Special Forces in Panama; Greg Edwards, the founder and senior pastor of Resurrected Life Community Church and the pres-of the city of Allentown; John Morganelli, the district attorney for Northampton County since 1992; David Clark, a veteran of By JAKE EPSTEIN Associate News Editor Republican representative Charlie Dent announced he would retire from his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 7, 2017. Dent has recently decided to not serve the remainder of his term and will leave Congress next month, according to Politico. Dent represents Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District, encom-passing Lehigh, Berks, Dauphin, Lebanon and Northampton coun-ties. After the Jan. 22 redistrict-ing, these areas will now be consid-ered part of the 7th Congressional District. On Thursday, the six Democratic candidates running for Dent’s seat gathered in Neville Hall to debate contemporary issues facing the nation. The debate was hosted by Lehigh Valley for All, a local progressive group, the Lehigh Debate Society and Breena Holland, an associate professor in Lehigh’s political sci-ence department. Candidates included Susan Wild, the first female solicitor See DEBATE Page 2 Courtesy of lehighvalleylive.com From top left: David Clark, Rick Daugherty, Greg Edwards, John Morganelli, Roger Ruggles, and Susan Wild all participate in the Democratic congressional debate on April 19 in Neville Hall. The candidates disscused several issues including immigration, climate change, mass shootings and labor.
Object Description
Title | Brown and White Vol. 134 no. 21 |
Date | 2018-04-27 |
Month | 04 |
Day | 27 |
Year | 2018 |
Volume | 134 |
Issue | 21 |
Type | Newspaper |
Source Repository | Lehigh University |
Coverage | United States, Pennsylvania, Lehigh, South Bethlehem |
LCCN | 7019854 |
Source Repository Code | LYU |
Digital Responsible Institution | Lehigh University |
Digital Responsible Institution Code | LYU |
Issue/Edition Pattern | Semiweekly |
Title Essay | Published twice a week during the college year by the students of Lehigh University |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Date | 2018-04-27 |
FullText | The Brown and White Vol. 134 No. 21 Friday, April 27, 2018 ‘All the Lehigh News First’ Bethlehem seeks to decriminalize marijuana A city council ordinance proposes more lenient penalties Lehigh hosts Democratic congressional debate By JORDAN WOLMAN Assistant News Editor The Bethlehem city council is seeking to lessen the penalties for marijuana possession. An ordinance proposed by coun-cilwoman Olga Negron is intend-ed to provide fairer, more propor-tionate consequences compared to other drug violations. “Marijuana does not belong in the same level that cocaine and harder drugs are included in,” Negron said. “I believe we should be legalizing it and taxing it. It will change the opioid problem that we have and lessen the kill-ing and the drug dealing and the gangs.” Marijuana’s federal status as a Class I drug, despite its grow-ing presence in American society, was also a motivation behind the proposal. “There’s a sea of change going on nationally, and eventual-ly we’ll see decriminalization nationwide,” councilman Adam Waldron said. “I think the city is wasting some resources enforcing the current law on marijuana.” The proposed ordinance fol-lows similar decriminaliza-tion efforts that succeeded in other Pennsylvania cities like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Harrisburg. Still, the process of turning the proposal into law could be com-plicated. Waldron said the biggest point of contention is that Bethlehem — because part of the city lies in Northampton County and the other in Lehigh County — has two district attorneys with differ-ent opinions on the matter. Waldron said the DA of Northampton County decided to leave the issue to the munici-palities, meanwhile the Lehigh County DA has said the proposal would be unconstitutional under Pennsylvania law. “The Lehigh County DA has written a formal memo threaten-ing the police chief for obstruction of justice for not following state law,” Waldron said. “In theory, there is unanimous support for the ordinance (on the city coun-cil).” Councilman Michael Colon, the chairman of Bethlehem’s public safety committee, said if the ordi-nance is passed, it would create a situation the city has not yet seen. “This contradiction between the two DAs is rather unusual,” Colon See MARIJUANA Page 3 Courtesy of Creative Commons Bethlehem city councilwoman Olga Negron has proposed an ordinance that would reduce the consequences of marijuana possesion. The Lehigh County DA opposes the ordinance, while the neighboring Northampton County DA has decided to leave the issue to municipalities. ident of Resurrected Community Development Corporation; Roger Ruggles, a member of the Easton city council since 2008 and a vet-eran of the U.S. Air Force; and Rick Daugherty, former chairman of the Lehigh County Democratic Committee and district adminis-trator for Rep. Paul McHale. Each of the candidates discussed four major issues our nation is fac-ing right now. Immigration policy Wild said the United States should make life easier for asy-lum and refugee seekers and is heavily opposed to the travel ban implemented by the Trump Administration, as well as the concept of building a wall along the border between the U.S. and Mexico. “It’s very telling that no member of Congress from a border state supports the process of building a wall,” Wild said. Daugherty said one of the big-gest immigration issues can be traced to American foreign policy in Central and South American countries. He believes the U.S. the U.S. Special Forces in Panama; Greg Edwards, the founder and senior pastor of Resurrected Life Community Church and the pres-of the city of Allentown; John Morganelli, the district attorney for Northampton County since 1992; David Clark, a veteran of By JAKE EPSTEIN Associate News Editor Republican representative Charlie Dent announced he would retire from his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Sept. 7, 2017. Dent has recently decided to not serve the remainder of his term and will leave Congress next month, according to Politico. Dent represents Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District, encom-passing Lehigh, Berks, Dauphin, Lebanon and Northampton coun-ties. After the Jan. 22 redistrict-ing, these areas will now be consid-ered part of the 7th Congressional District. On Thursday, the six Democratic candidates running for Dent’s seat gathered in Neville Hall to debate contemporary issues facing the nation. The debate was hosted by Lehigh Valley for All, a local progressive group, the Lehigh Debate Society and Breena Holland, an associate professor in Lehigh’s political sci-ence department. Candidates included Susan Wild, the first female solicitor See DEBATE Page 2 Courtesy of lehighvalleylive.com From top left: David Clark, Rick Daugherty, Greg Edwards, John Morganelli, Roger Ruggles, and Susan Wild all participate in the Democratic congressional debate on April 19 in Neville Hall. The candidates disscused several issues including immigration, climate change, mass shootings and labor. |
Tags
Comments
Post a Comment for Page 1