One Toke Over The Line Sweet Jesus

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“One toke over the line sweet Jesus
One toke over the line
Sittin’ downtown in [Alvarado Transportation] railway station
One toke over the line

Awaitin’ for the train that goes home, sweet Mary
Hopin’ that the [Railrunner] is on time
Sittin’ downtown in a [Alvarado Transportation] railway station
One toke over the line”

Brewer & Shipley, 1970 album Tarkio

I took a few liberties with the Brewer & Shipley 1970 hit song after reading that the Albuquerque City Council voted to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1153573/albuquerque-city-council-to-vote-on-decriminalizing-pot.html

The ordinance allowing APD to issue a $25 civil penalty for possession of an ounce or less of marijuana and associated paraphernalia passed 5 to 4 during the meeting.

Democrat City Councilors Pat Davis, Klarissa Peña, Ken Sanchez, Isaac Benton and Diane Gibson, voted in favor of the legislation.

Davis, who is running for Congress, and Benton sponsored the measure.

Republican Councilors Brad Winter, Trudy Jones and Don Harris and Democrat Cynthia Borrego opposed the ordinance.

The ordinance now heads to Mayor Tim Keller, who had expressed support for decriminalizing and legalizing marijuana on the campaign trail.

We will see if Mayor Keller has changed his mind and signs it or veto’s it with or without any fanfare or by press release the way he did with the recent tax increase passed by the City Council.

LEGALIZE, TAX AND REGULATE

The truth is, APD Police Officers have wide discretion in making arrests and they normally do not make arrests for small amounts of marijuana preferring to dodge the bullets from guns being shot at them during the commission of one of the many violent felonies that go on in Albuquerque every day.

During the last legislative session State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino (D-Albuquerque) once again attempted to legalize the sale and use of marijuana in New Mexico by introducing legislation to put it on the ballot as a constitutional amendment for voter approval, and the legislation went no where.

In any representative form of government, people are elected to make the best decisions they can based on the facts and needs of their constituents, presuming those decisions and votes are really within their authority.

The legalization and decriminalization of marijuana needs to be addressed by the New Mexico legislature or the US Congress and not the Albuquerque City Council.

The truth is, our war on drugs has been a miserable failure in this country, especially when it comes to pot, and that is coming from someone who started his legal career prosecuting narcotics cases.

Legalize, regulate, control sales and tax recreational marijuana by comprehensive legislation is what needs to be done.

The candidates for Governor, Congress and those running for the legislature should be asked where they stand on legalization of marijuana

Healthy debate on comprehensive legislation during this election year could be a pre-cursory to drafting viable legislation and adopted by the 2019 New Mexico legislature.

CONCLUSION

The truth is, the city council’s ordinance is mostly symbolic, but Davis needs and wanted the expected front-page Albuquerque Journal coverage now that he is running for congress.

Now that they have gotten their useless ordinance passed, Davis and Benton need to sponsor a resolution making “One Toke Over The Line” Albuquerque’s official song, of course with my edits, and I will donate my royalties to help with police officer pay.

After the New Mexico legislature legalizes recreational marijuana, Davis and Benton could market “Duke City Gold” which will be their own home-grown marijuana.

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About

Pete Dinelli was born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He is of Italian and Hispanic descent. He is a 1970 graduate of Del Norte High School, a 1974 graduate of Eastern New Mexico University with a Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration and a 1977 graduate of St. Mary's School of Law, San Antonio, Texas. Pete has a 40 year history of community involvement and service as an elected and appointed official and as a practicing attorney in Albuquerque. Pete and his wife Betty Case Dinelli have been married since 1984 and they have two adult sons, Mark, who is an attorney and George, who is an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT). Pete has been a licensed New Mexico attorney since 1978. Pete has over 27 years of municipal and state government service. Pete’s service to Albuquerque has been extensive. He has been an elected Albuquerque City Councilor, serving as Vice President. He has served as a Worker’s Compensation Judge with Statewide jurisdiction. Pete has been a prosecutor for 15 years and has served as a Bernalillo County Chief Deputy District Attorney, as an Assistant Attorney General and Assistant District Attorney and as a Deputy City Attorney. For eight years, Pete was employed with the City of Albuquerque both as a Deputy City Attorney and Chief Public Safety Officer overseeing the city departments of police, fire, 911 emergency call center and the emergency operations center. While with the City of Albuquerque Legal Department, Pete served as Director of the Safe City Strike Force and Interim Director of the 911 Emergency Operations Center. Pete’s community involvement includes being a past President of the Albuquerque Kiwanis Club, past President of the Our Lady of Fatima School Board, and Board of Directors of the Albuquerque Museum Foundation.