DESPITE GOV’T FEAR MONGERING, ARIZONA SEES DUIS DROP AFTER CANNABIS LEGALIZATION

Across the country last November, Americans made their voices heard in regard to the war on drugs. A record five states legalized cannabis in some form. Montana voted to legalize cannabis for those 21 and up, New Jersey, South Dakota — who has since reversed course— and Arizona also approved recreational use. Legal weed started from a trickle in 2012 with Washington and Colorado and has now developed into a landslide with dozens of states legalizing it in some form.

Telling cops to stop kidnapping and caging people for possessing and selling a plant that has never killed anyone, is most certainly a massive step in the direction of freedom. However, many states who have legalized cannabis forget about those who have already been kidnapped and caged for this plant. Hundreds of thousands of people are still rotting in a cages or have criminal records hanging over their heads in states where cannabis has been legalized. This is an egregious injustice and it needs to change.

Luckily, there are those in the political world who see this injustice and are moving to correct it. With the passage of Proposition 207 (the Smart and Safe Arizona Act) on Nov 3rd, Arizona decided to make that move.

However, as is normally the case, when a bad law is reversed, there are always tyrants who will resist and fear monger. After the passage of Prop 207, the head of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety began fear mongering, claiming that cannabis DUIs would go up.

“It’s legal to purchase it, to consume it, but not while driving,” Alberto Gutier, director of the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, said, adding, “We think there will be an increase (in cannabis DUI) all over the state, slowly but surely.”

Fortunately, he appears to be wrong.

According to his own Office of Highway Safety, so far in 2021, Arizona has seen 582 DUI drug arrests. Those numbers are on pace for 4,518 arrests this year, which would be the lowest number of DUI drug arrests since 2014. 

These numbers are likely lower given the fact that people can test positive for cannabis, well after the effects have worn off.

“It’s hard, it’s really hard because unlike alcohol, there is no test or no chemical test one can do telling people someone is under the influence of marijuana. All it can show is prior use.” Lawrence Koplow, a former prosecutor turned DUI lawyer said, according to 12 News.

What’s more, many of these DUIs are issued by so-called “Drug Recognition Experts.” As TFTP has reported, stone cold sober drivers in Arizona get DUI’s and have to spend thousands of dollars proving their innocence. The source of the misunderstandings and illegitimate arrests, once again, come from Drug Recognition Experts (DRE), cops with badges and fancy titles who claim they can look at a motorist and on observation alone determine if someone is impaired.

MORE:
https://www.wakingtimes.com/despite-govt-fear-mongering-arizona-sees-duis-drop-after-cannabis-legalization/

Variable Rate Electricity Plans Under Scrutiny After Texas Power Bill Chaos

As the Occupied Republic of Texas Titanic goes down with women and children, Ship’s Officer Cruz has taken the first lifeboat for himself, his luggage including spare life vest and plenty of blankets to keep his champaign from freezing., leaving the Texas’s Titanic’s passengers to drown in freezing sea.

There are a couple of types of electricity plans for commercial and residential customers. Some power companies offer fixed-rate electricity plans, while others provide variable-rate electricity plans. It’s up to the customer which plan they select – not knowing the difference can be financially painful when power rates rise, as many in Texas found out last week.

More than a dozen states allow power companies to offer variable rate plans, which fluctuate with power prices. As of 2019, about 11 million homes and businesses nationwide were enrolled in variable-rate programs, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Scrutiny of dynamic pricing comes as last week’s power grid chaos in Texas resulted in rolling blackouts for days. Power prices spiked to unprecedented levels as various power generations froze due to the polar vortex dumping Arctic weather into the state.

As the energy crisis unfolded, we were one of the first to note variable rate plans would go to the “moon” as power prices spiked. We then provided shocking accounts of some residents who were slapped with multi-thousand dollar energy bills.

In particular, Texan resident Ty Williams told local news WFAA that his average electric bill is around $660 per month. After the rolling blackouts, his power bill jumped to $17,000.

John Howat, a senior energy analyst with National Consumer Law Center, a consumer advocacy group, told Reuters that electric suppliers in other states pushed customers to join variable-rate style plans.

Since the Texas energy crisis, multiple states have opened probes into surging utility bills. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter told reporters Monday that his team will be investigating whether power companies violated Oklahoma laws that cap prices of goods to a 10% rise after an emergency is declared.

“The goal there is to, in as substantive and productive a way as possible, figure out ways to mitigate the impact of this utility bill phenomenon we’re expecting to see in the next couple of months,” Hunter said.

Texas utility regulators have said a temporary ban is in place from billing customers or cutting off their power for non-payment.

MORE:

https://www.zerohedge.com/commodities/variable-rate-electricity-plans-under-scrutiny-after-texas-power-bill-chaos

Board Leaders Of Texas Power Grid Resign After Blackout Outrage

YOU ARE PEONS,
I THOUGHT YOU KNEW,
I AM BETTER THAN YOU!
A-BUTT CAN ,MAKE YOU BUY STUFF YOU DON’T WANT FROM OCCUPIED PALESTINE, WARE A MASK WHICH HARMS YOUR HEATLH, WATCH AS COMMUNIST POLICES KILLS PRIVATE BUSINESSES, BUT HE CAN NOT STOP TEXICANS FROM FREEEZING TO DEATH!

I do believe there is plenty of criminal guilt to go around.

Sounds like what is needed is Republic of Texas Common Law trials for the pendejo  yankee carpetbaggers,  pacified reconstructed scalawags and gentuza  Mexico Firsters of the Occupying Corporations.

The Ole Dog!

The chair of Texas’s power grid operator and four other board members have resigned in the wake of the widespread outrage resulting from the energy crisis that crippled the state’s electrical system.

According to a filing by the PUC of Texas, Electric Reliability Council of Texas Chair Sally Talberg resigned along with Vice Chair Peter Cramton and board members Raymond Hepper, Terry Bulger, Vanessa Anesetti-Parra,/

In their resignation letter, the member cited recent concerns raised about out-of-state board leadership at the grid operator. “To allow state leaders a free hand with future direction and to eliminate distractions, we are resigning from the board effective after our urgent board teleconference meeting adjourns on Wednesday, February 24, 2021.”

The resignations come as the Texas grid operator ERCOT and state regulators scramble to contain the catastrophic fallout from last week’s blackouts that left millions of homes without heat and light during a severe cold snap. The resignations also come after Texas Governor Greg Abbott last week called for Ercot leadership, including board members, to step down, and one day after the mother of an 11-year-old Texas boy who died during the power outage sued ERCOT and Entergy.

“We look forward to working with the Texas Legislature, and we thank the outgoing Board Members for their service,” Ercot spokesperson Leslie Sopko said in a statement.

Craig Ivey also submitted a letter to withdraw his petition for approval as an unaffiliated director, citing concerns stakeholders recently expressed of having out-of-state directors.

MORE:

https://www.zerohedge.com/energy/board-leaders-texas-power-grid-resign-after-blackout-outrage?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+the+survival+rate+for+everyone+drops+to+zero%29