MANSFIELD — On October 19th, Mansfield City Council voted to pass a non-binding resolution proposed by the Richland Community Prayer Network (RCPN) to officially oppose State Issue #3, thereby opposing the effort for the upcoming Fall election to legalize the use of marijuana in Ohio .
The resolution easily passed 6-2 with Councilmen Don Bryant and Butch Jefferson opposing.
The resolution stated that the legalization of marijuana will circumvent efforts by local law enforcement, prevention agencies like Capable Action Capable Youth (CACY), and other faith-based drug treatment ministries provided by local congregations.
Also cited was a 2011 study finding that “crash risk appears to increase progressively with dose and frequency of marijuana use,” and that the study found that “drivers who test positive for marijuana or self-report using marijuana are more than twice as likely as other drivers to be involved in motor vehicle crashes.”
“I would like to thank City Council and the Administration for your tireless efforts in helping curtail the drug addiction tragedy that is striking our land,” Benjamin Mutti of RCPN said to City Council On Monday night. Mutti was also accompanied by Reverend El Akuchie.
Reverend El Akuchie, Richland Community Prayer Network
“Legalizing this illicit drug (marijuana) in Ohio would be a triple threat to the health, safety, and morality of our great state. We don’t need anymore ‘second hand smoke’ to cloud our children s’ future.
Akuchie commented, “Marijuana is even more poisonous than when it was first outlawed nearly one hundred years ago. Legalizing this illicit drug in Ohio would be a triple threat to the health, safety, and morality of our great state. We don’t need anymore ‘second hand smoke’ to cloud our children s’ future. Three is a crowd. Vote no on Issue 3.”
RCPN believes that the united voices of the City Council of the county seat, along with the local law enforcement,in the region demonstrate a formidable opposition to Issue 3.
Most recently RCPN coordinated a countywide prayer movement of pastors representing sixty-six local congregations this past summer, and also spearheaded an effort to persuade the County Commissioners to support the defunding of Planned Parenthood with forty-three area clergy.
Editor’s note: Issue 3 was defeated by Ohio voters in the 2015 elections.
The Bottom Line:
The Bible says in First Peter Chapter Five, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.”
