PatrickWynne

Yes.

I am referring to all drugs.

In my life, I have lost my best friend, 2 other friends, and my wife lost her uncle, to heroin overdoses. I have friends with life-altering felonies, who can't get regular work or even an apartment because they had a little too much weed on them. I have been at two raves that were raided under Bush's Rave act, I escaped without charges thanks to being active duty military at the time. In the military, I watched as friends were carried out in shackles for MDMA usage many many times, these were good people, people who wanted to serve others, and just wanted to experience life in their off time.

I am tired of seeing people's lives ruined and families torn apart for the drug war. What we need is better treatment for mental health, addiction, and to ensure these substances are what they say they are. By legalizing we are also stripping the power from cartels and street gangs.

I fully support using drug taxes to fund the necessary mental health and rehab services.

I fully support the US Constitution and the liberties afforded by it. I will never seek to ban guns in opposition to the second amendment. However, I am not opposed to increased training requirements for more deadly weapons and feel it is a good compromise with legislators pushing for a ban.

Our two party system is part of what is wrong with American politics today. The democrats and republicans have become so deeply entrenched in their ideologies that they can no longer even hear the other side. There are extremes among the American people, but they are just that, the extremes. Most people are somewhere in the middle and that means we can find common ground. Democrats and Republicans have forgotten how to find common grounds.

I also believe most of our politicians are just that, politicians. They have lost sight of their task of serving the people. They chose politics as their career and not as a community service. I do not want to be a career politician.

True freedom is being able to pursue your happiness in any form you choose, so long as you are not harming another person.

You should be able to be yourself, love who you want, live how you want and the government shouldn't have a damn say in that.