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John Gregg on Drugs
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Needle exchange helps stop HIV virus
Officials report the HIV outbreak has mainly been fueled by individuals sharing needles used to inject prescription painkillers. John Gregg finds Gov. Pence's initial hesitation to address the issue troublesome. Pence signed legislation in May which
allowed the installation of a needle-exchange program, but by that time, the number of infected people already had reached 150."You know, that's asinine," Gregg said. "I mean, we've got to realize there's a drug problem.
And to say that we would not do a needle exchange, that's irresponsible. They're going to be using the drugs, and we might as well see to it that that's a great way to stop the HIV virus.
His attitude on that is akin to people who don't want to talk about sex education because if we don't talk about it, then, you know, the kids won't be procreating. I mean, how do you think we all got here?"
Source: Kokomo Tribune on 2016 Indiana Gubernatorial race
, Sep 24, 2015
Legalize the medicinal use of marijuana
The issue of legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana is close to Gregg's heart. He lost his father Donald about a year ago to cancer of the esophagus, an ailment which eventually metastasized into his brain. The last year of Donald's life was spent in
hospice care, where the agony of cancer severely limited his ability to enjoy his time left with loved ones. Although it was not, marijuana should've been part of his father's pain treatment, should Donald have wanted it, Gregg said."If a doctor would
have told me that's something you need to consider, why shouldn't we have?" Gregg asked. "I mean, my dad had lived 80-plus years, and his quality of life his last few weeks of life was not good. And there are some people with chronic illnesses that
it helps. We've got a lot of young men coming back from overseas with PTSD. That's the crime. We send these young people over there to fight and make our world safer because of terrorism, and they come back with issues."
Source: Kokomo Tribune on 2016 Indiana Gubernatorial race
, Sep 24, 2015
Decriminalize marijuana; that's different than legalizing
On the issue of decriminalization, Gregg vowed, if elected, his administration would study the penalties on the low end of the issue, like possession of small amounts. "What I would want to stress to people is decriminalization does not
mean legalization," he said. "Not everyone remembers that or realizes that. I would imagine if we went over to the
Howard County Jail, we'd find the citizens of Howard County are paying their precious tax dollars to keep some kid in there who had a joint or two. I realize that it's against the law, but the fact of the matter is,
I want my law enforcement in Indiana to look at child abusers and rapists and murderers and people who do armed robbery in stores and homes."
Source: Kokomo Tribune on 2016 Indiana Gubernatorial race
, Sep 24, 2015
Focus on serious crimes, not minor drug offenses
I would imagine if we went over to the Howard County Jail, we'd find ... the citizens of Howard County are paying tax dollars to keep some kid in there who had a joint or two.
I realize that it's against the law, but the fact of the matter is, I want my law enforcement in Indiana to look at child abusers and rapists and murderers and people who do armed robbery in stores and homes.
Source: Kokomo Tribune on 2016 Indiana gubernatorial race
, Sep 24, 2015
Study medical marijuana legalization before legalizing
In late March 2013, in response to Gov. Pence's criticism of legislation that rewrites Indiana's criminal code to lower drug penalties, a Senate committee amended the criminal code reform bill to make punishment for marijuana crimes tougher than
the legislation's Republican authors had originally proposed. House Bill 1006 supporters say the intent of the bill is divert drug users out of state prisons and into treatment programs, while reserving the prisons for the worst offenders.
Pence waited till mid-March to weigh in on House Bill 1006 and did so at a press briefing with TV and radio reporters, telling them, "I think we need to focus on reducing crime, not reducing penalties."During a 2012 gubernatorial debate in
Zionsville, Gov. Mike Pence said he opposed any marijuana law reforms and viewed marijuana as a "gateway" drug. His Democrat opponent John Gregg generally agreed, but added that medical marijuana would be worth studying.
Source: Howey politics on 2016 Indiana gubernatorial race
, Jan 2, 2014
Page last updated: Jul 15, 2017