Right question, wrong timing

I love me a good dilemma. On the one hand, you have a state senator sponsoring a bill that would kickstart a discussion on legalizing or decriminalizing marijuana. On the other hand, I question the timing of bringing this bill up in the current political environment in Indiana.

Sen. Karen Tallian (D-Portage) is sponsoring a bill that would direct the criminal law and sentencing study committee to examine the state's marijuana laws next summer and come up with recommendations.

Well, that certainly figures. While I admire Sen. Tallian even approaching the subject, this approach seems timid at best. You need a bill to create a discussion? To come up with recommendations? Does parliamentary procedure in Indiana allow me to call bullshit?

There have been enough recommendations for a full-fledged discussion by this point in history. Seriously. With the number of states and communities decriminalizing possession of small amounts on the rise, would it have been so difficult for Sen. Tallian to simply offer up a full decrim or legalization bill, based on the dearth of recommendations, statistics, facts, etc. that have been built up over the last 30 years or so?

Sen. Tallian herself understands that controversial topics can take three days past forever to go through the legislative process, granted, but what she apparently fails to grasp is that taking the longest possible route to work on an issue is hardly the best way to address the situation at hand.

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