SACRAMENTO, Calif. – This week, a new state law is in effect aimed at protecting children who are victims of sexual abuse.

Law enforcement officers in California no longer can arrest youth suspects for prostitution.

Maheen Kaleem, a staff attorney with Rights4Girls, which advocated for the law, says minors inherently don't have the same legal powers as adults, so they can't consent to prostitution, and that pimps use threats of arrest as a way to keep minors from breaking free.

"Incarceration of victims really gets in the way of getting these children on the path to healing that they need, because exploiters are telling children, 'If you go to law enforcement, if you seek help, all they will do is arrest you,'" Kaleem states.

Of just over 1,000 human trafficking cases reported in California this year, about 1 in 4 involved a child.

Kaleem says the new law shifts guilt away from these young people, and toward those who are traffickers or customers of the sex trade. Fifteen other states have also passed like-minded laws.

The problem involves many demographic pockets of children and is often connected to the international drug trade, Kaleem says.

She explains it isn't that agencies or law enforcement see these children as criminals, but that options have been limited when faced with these cases.

"A lot of it was that they didn't feel like they had an alternative,” Kaleem points out. “And if it's a choice between leaving that child on the street and arresting that child, they were going to arrest the child, because at least then, they knew where the child was. The family court could get involved.

“Now that this protocol, and protocols like it, exist in other counties, it was very clear that there was another alternative."

But that better alternative is not without complications. Kaleem says the majority of the cases she sees come from the child welfare system, where caseworkers are now being asked to learn these new protocols.






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Saturday is National Drug Take Back Day, and there will be more than 135 events across Wisconsin where folks can dispose of both controlled and noncontrolled prescription drugs.

In part, the annual occasion aims to combat the spread of illicit opioid prescriptions, which have long plagued Wisconsin and the nation.

Josh Kaul, Wisconsin's Attorney General, said at a Stand Up for Recovery Ceremony this week, the state is seeing fewer new opioid prescriptions.

"There has been a significant decline in opioid prescriptions over the last several years," Kaul observed. "That has been really encouraging to see. There is undoubtedly increased awareness that prescriptions can lead to substance-use disorder."

According to a news release, residents can bring e-cigarette devices with the batteries removed,
aerosol sprays, inhalers and pet medications, among other things. Illegal drugs, needles and anything containing a bodily fluid will not be accepted.

While overall new prescriptions may be down, data indicates Wisconsin still struggles with the opioid crisis. According to the state's Department of Health Services, there were more than 1,200 opioid-related deaths in Wisconsin in 2020, the latest full year of available data, the highest annual death count since at least 2014.

Kaul pointed out the pandemic has exacerbated underlying mental-health issues for those working through substance-use disorder.

"The pandemic has led, as we all know, to increased isolation, increased mental-health challenges," Kaul noted. "It has caused many people to lose loved ones as a result of the pandemic, and that has taken a major toll on mental health and on substance-use disorder."

While officials encourage people to dispose of unused prescriptions this weekend, there are nearly 500 permanent drug disposal boxes scattered across the state.

Yesterday, April 20, was an unofficial holiday for marijuana enthusiasts across the country, and here in Wisconsin, lawmakers marked the day by weighing the future of pot in the Badger State.

In a Senate committee hearing, legislators considered a Republican-authored bill which would legalize medical marijuana, with tight controls and regulation from state agencies and doctors.

Sen. Mary Felzkowski, R-Irma, noted both Republican and Democrat-controlled states have passed similar bills.

"It's in complete red states, it's in complete blue states, it's in purple states; and I don't think that medical marijuana is a partisan issue," Felzkowski asserted. "This is about a drug, it's not an FDA-approved drug, but it's a drug under a doctor's care that can help people with debilitating diseases."

Democrats have criticized Felzkowski's bill for being too restrictive, as the measure does not allow folks to smoke marijuana and only permits medical pot for a limited range of illnesses, although Felzkowski countered the list is open to additions.

Democrats have tried and failed for years to pass recreational marijuana bills through the GOP-controlled Legislature. Lawmakers are not scheduled to reconvene and vote on any bills until next year.

The measure is opposed by the Wisconsin Chiefs of Police Association and the Wisconsin Medical Society, and supported by the Business Education Fund and the Wisconsin Hemp Farmers and Manufacturers Association.

Sen. Melissa Agard, D-Madison, said the bill is "half-baked" and doesn't go far enough.

"Senate Bill 1034 doesn't address our racial disparities," Agard contended. "And it doesn't provide a path for expungements and bars people who have been previously harmed by these controlled substances and the prohibition of cannabis from contributing to this important industry."

A recent Marquette Law School poll of Wisconsin voters found 61% of respondents support legalizing marijuana. And 51% of Republican respondents support full legalization, up 10% from 2019. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, at least 37 states, four U.S. territories and Washington, D.C. permit medical cannabis.

A new report confirms what it said CEOs have been telling shareholders for months: Inflation has been very good for business.

Lindsay Owens, executive director of the Groundwork Collaborative, the group behind the report, said families in Nebraska and across the U.S. are on the hook, as powerful corporations tap the pandemic's economic fallout to rake in record-breaking profits. Last year, corporate profit margins reached their highest level since 1950.

"Meanwhile, prices were soaring for American families," Owens pointed out. "CEOs and firms are not just passing on their rising costs, right? They're not just asking consumers to pay for inflation effectively. They're going for more."

In just one example uncovered by researchers of CEOs boasting during corporate earnings calls about price hikes and profits, the CEO of Constellation Brands, the parent company of popular beers Modelo and Corona, said the company planned to "take as much as [we] can" from its Hispanic customer base.

Owens noted if the playing field were level, other companies could take customers away from firms raising prices. But she emphasized virtual monopolies consolidated over past decades make it all but impossible. Tyson's CEO told shareholders it was raising prices to cover increased costs, plus a little extra.

"And that 'a little extra' is accelerating price hikes, and bringing in record profits for Tyson," Owens contended. "And because there are really only four major meatpackers, these guys are effectively all running the same pricing strategy. And there is really no one to undercut them."

Constellation Brands and Tyson have not yet responded to a request for comment. Last week Owens testified at a U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing on price-gouging and corporate greed. She recommended the first option available to lawmakers to hold companies accountable is to make use of the tax code.

"Taxing excess and windfall profits will make profiteering less appealing to the large companies," Owens explained. "The second is thinking about enacting a federal price-gouging statute, and enforcing the laws already on the books."