On this episode, Chris is joined by Christy Alten-Osmera, program director of the adolescent unit at Keystone Treatment Center, and Matt Walz, a policy specialist at Keystone. They discuss South Dakota’s upcoming ballot measures dealing with marijuana, Amendment A and I.M. 26, and discuss the harm marijuana causes to people they witness every day in their work. Modern marijuana, Christy and Matt explain, damages kids, the poor, and the human drive to work and create. Matt breaks down some of the myths of “legalization,” why some already available FDA-approved medications may answer the request by some people for medicalization, and describes why Constitutional Amendment A is poorly drafted and bad policy.
Faith & Politics
F&P Episode 115: South Dakota’s Pivotal Moment on Abortion
South Dakota’s 2023 legislative session marked the first time that state lawmakers had gathered since the U.S. Supreme Court handed down its June 24, 2022 decision in the case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and restored to the states the ability to set their own public policy on abortion. Host Michael Pauley is joined by Dale Bartscher, the Executive Director of South Dakota Right to Life, for a discussion on how state lawmakers responded to the Dobbs decision, and how South Dakota’s pro-life community is responding to a citizen-initiated amendment that proposes to create an unlimited right to abortion in the state constitution.