Currently, Cincinnati's civil penalties for marijuana possession allow law enforcement to focus officers and resources on more serious concerns like hard drugs and violent crime. Councilman Cecil Thomas' proposed ordinance will force the city to reduce vital resources necessary for keeping our city safe in order to put more minor offenders in jail (Porkopolis, issue of March 15-21).
Incarcerating nonviolent individuals not only wastes taxpayer money, it overcrowds prisons so much that violent criminals are often allowed to go free when they are eligble for parole.
For years, Cincinnati and the state of Ohio have imposed civil sanctions for marijuana possession, allowing law enforcement to focus on more serious crime. What good will changing this law do?
City Council has rejected Thomas' ordinance time and again over the past year. I urge them to once again reject the ordinance and keep Cincinnati's law enforcement focused on serious crime.
— Allison Lucas, Mount Healthy
Don't Like the Hate Metal
I'm aware that, if printed, this letter won't be seen before the March 18 Anal Cunt/Meat Shits show at Sudsy Malone's (Sound Advice, issue of March 15-21). However, I wanted to say something regarding these two bands as well as those like them.
As a fan of Grindcore and Death Metal, I can verify that Anal Cunt's reputation as an "offensive" is well-deserved.
I would add that the Meat Shits fare about as well, with lyrical masterpieces as "Pee-Wee's Porno Palace" and "Sniper at the Fag Parade," to name but two.
In writing this, I want to state that there are quite a few of us in Cincinnati who enjoy Punk, Hardcore and Metal music but have no patience for racist, sexist, homophobic or, in this case, just plain stupid views. This includes the general idiocy of bands like AC and the Meat Shits as well as anything having to do with "Hate Metal," as music writer Ezra Waller put it.
— Doug Saretsky, Clifton
Out of Step With People
I find it ironic that on the very day that Kentucky Rep. Addia Wuchner (R-Florence) introduced House Bill 489 prohibiting and criminalizing all voluntary abortions on the grounds that the mother-child relationship is one worthy of the greatest legal protection ("Right to a Private Life," issue of March 8-14), she voted against HB 372, which would protect the lives of children riding in vehicles by requiring the use of appropriate safety seats. This is just one more example of how so many "pro-life" politicians don't really value the lives of all children but are primarily concerned to radically restrict women's rightful autonomy.
Extreme abortion bans such as the one in South Dakota and the one proposed by Wuchner are radically out of step with the views of the American public. These bans attack the rights of women and families to make private, personal decisions about whether and when to have children.
If politicians like Wuchner truly cared about life, they'd work to reduce the number of elective abortions by supporting laws that promote women's economic independence (equal pay, livable wage); fully fund health care for every child; support quality child-care programs; provide accurate and age-appropriate sex education; and ensure universal access to contraception.
It's only when the real cause of abortion is eliminated — when women and children are no longer the vast majority of those living in poverty in this country — that the need for abortion will be minimized. If politicians truly cared about reducing the number of abortions, they would work with Planned Parenthood to increase access to contraception and medically accurate sex education.
— Nancy Hancock, Union, Ky.
I just finished reading Katie Laur's lovely rememberance of Irma Lazarus ("Name Dropping," issue of March 1-8). I moved to Cincinnati in the mid-1980s and immediately heard of Lazarus' skills and devotion to the arts. She was truly an example of all that was good in our city.
Thank you for a beautiful piece.
— Kenneth Kabel,
Cincinnati
Grow Up
Thanks so much for the article on Trust in Recruiting campaign ("Won't Get Fooled Again," issue of Feb. 1-8). I have found it unnerving that military recruiters must be permitted to come into a school, say what they want or the threat of losing tax dollars is given them.
I'm glad a voice can also be given to the other side of the story. Let students decide themselves. If we think they're old enough to put their life on the line in the military, they're old enough to hear two sides of the military recruitment story and make up their own minds.
Thanks for the story. The Intercommunity Justice and Peace Center, which organized the campaign, does a great job.
— Sister Marilyn Gottemoeller, RSM Walnut Hills
Some of us are pretty pissed at what we're hearing about raw milk-drinkers being busted by the cops and the Ohio Department of Agriculture. Pretty surreal. Raw milk drinkers own a cow and want to drink the milk from that cow. What's the big deal?
That's the way I grew up. Didn't hurt me any, except I do read CityBeat. Is that a crime? Is drinking raw milk a crime? Is Kafka writing the script?
I'm looking to you guys at CityBeat to get the scoop on this poop. We need to find our way out of this world that's increasingly ruled by lies, stupidity and brutality. We need to get to a world of genuine sharing and caring. The raw milk drinkers are setting a good example.
— Mike Murphy, Camp Washington