Human Dignity

By Gerald D. Coleman, P.S.S.

In Weed the People, the author argues that “America is changing its mind about marijuana. For the past 80 years we’ve treated it as a ruinously dangerous drug, a public health menace, an addictive and illegal scourge. This is changing, and more quickly than many of us once thought possible. At the end of 2014 the U.S. reached a tipping point: for the first time ever, a majority of Americans lived in states with some form of marijuana legality.”[1]

The public perception of marijuana has been steadily shifting over the past decade. Gallup polls in the early 2000s found that about one-third of Americans favored legalization. That climbed to 44% in 2009, 48% in 2012, and 58% in 2013. A major factor behind this surge was the growing approbation of medical marijuana. By 2013 medical marijuana use was seen as helpful and safe.[2] Seventy-seven percent of Americans believed marijuana had legitimate medical uses and 83% thought doctors should be able to prescribe limited amounts for patients with serious illnesses.

One moment crystallized the nation’s new openness to marijuana when on August 8, 2013 CNN chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, publicly changed his mind on the positive effects of medical marijuana. Gupta said that he “mistakenly believed the Drug Enforcement Agency listed marijuana as a Schedule I substance because of sound scientific proof. In fact, the DEA had no such proof. Though government continued to deny it, marijuana has very legitimate medical applications. In fact, sometimes marijuana is the only thing that works.”[3]

The doctor-prescribed use of medical marijuana has led to the worrisome assumption that the recreational use of marijuana enjoys the same level of safety and oversight. This conjecture has led to an increasing number of states to legalize or hope to legalize the use of marijuana for reactional purposes.

This assumption needs careful critique.

[The State Budget] concerns profound moral questions about who are we as a society, how we view our future and whether as a people we can look beyond our own self-interest to the interest of the larger society.  (In Search of the Common Good, 2011)

Over the course of the next few days, the Governor and Legislative leaders will make decisions regarding the State Budget that will impact millions of Californians. 

A few weeks ago the California Budget & Policy Center held their annual conference Policy Insights 2016. This presentation dealt with the housing crisis in California. The slide show by the California Housing Parntership Coorporation was a great overview of the issue. You can view the slides here.

Why Is Housing So Expensive in California and What Can Be Done About It?

Catholic Charities of California (CCC) has announced that the California Department of Social Services (CDSS) has again chosen to award the organization additional funding to provide Unaccompanied Undocumented Minor (UUM) Legal Services in the current fiscal year.  CCC will receive an additional $100,000, bringing the total grant amount to $340,000 for Fiscal Year 2015-16.  These funds will allow local Catholic Charities Agencies to provide legal services to 68 unaccompanied undocumented minors.

CCC received the second largest award amount out of the 21 grantees.