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Donald Kauerauf

Politically Speaking
2 years 6 months ago
On this edition of Politically Speaking, Director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services Donald Kauerauf speaks with St. Louis Public Radio's Sarah Kellogg and Sarah Fentem. He began the job in September. The two Sarahs talk with Kauerauf about the COVID-19 pandemic, including the strides Missouri still needs to make to further combat the virus as well as his goals for public health beyond the coronavirus.

Senators Call On Biden to Pardon All Nonviolent Cannabis Offenders

RFT 📰
2 years 6 months ago

U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey of Massachusetts and Jeff Merkley of Oregon sent a letter to President Joe Biden last week calling on him to use his executive authority to issue a blanket pardon for all nonviolent federal cannabis offenders, whether currently or formerly incarcerated.

In the letter, the Senators, all Democrats, called America's war on drugs "failed and racist."

"America’s cannabis policies have punished Black and Brown communities for too long," the Senators wrote, adding that despite legalization in states across the country, as well as roughly equal cannabis usage rates, "Black Americans are still nearly four times as likely to be arrested for cannabis possession as white Americans."

The Senators also note that 27 states and Washington, D.C. have decriminalized cannabis possession, while 36 states have legalized cannabis for medical use and 18 states, two territories, and the District of Columbia have legalized cannabis for adult use.

The Senators also point out that a majority of Americans, nearly 7 in 10, support cannabis legalization.

On the campaign trail, Biden said that "we should decriminalize
marijuana" and "everyone [with a marijuana record] should be let out of jail, their records expunged, be completely zeroed out."

"Our country’s cannabis policies must be completely overhauled, but you have the power to act now: you can and should issue a blanket pardon for all non-violent federal cannabis offenses, fulfilling your promises to the American people and transforming the lives of tens of thousands [of] Americans," the letter states.

"The Constitution grants you the authority to pardon broad classes of Americans to correct widespread injustice, as previous Presidents have done," the letter added.…
Lee DeVito

Missourians say they can’t get federal food assistance due to long call wait times

MoInd 📰
2 years 6 months ago

Just as the school year was ending this past spring — and with it, free school lunches — Erin Bay learned that her monthly food assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) was cut off.  She was informed by the state that her son’s federal disability assistance put her about $65 over the income […]

The post Missourians say they can’t get federal food assistance due to long call wait times appeared first on Missouri Independent.

Rebecca Rivas