Pubdate: Fri, 05 Oct 2012
Source: Corvallis Gazette-Times (OR)
Copyright: 2012 Lee Enterprises
Contact: https://gazettetimes-dot-com.bloxcms.com/app/forms/contact/letters/
Website: http://www.gazettetimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/2976

VOTE NO ON PRO-POT MEASURE 80; IT'S A HOT MESS

We recommend that you find the time to read the full text of Oregon 
Measure 80, the wildly overreaching ballot measure that would 
legalize marijuana in the state.

Brew an extra cup of coffee: Measure 80 reads a bit like one of those 
old James Michener novels, the ones that went back eons to set the 
stage for the dramatic events that would follow.

The text of Measure 80 begins with a lengthy recounting of the many 
benefits of cannabis hemp, with detours back to the days of George 
Washington and Thomas Jefferson, all of which makes for interesting 
reading but is beyond the point.

The measure itself reads like a screed penned by marijuana fans, 
which is precisely what it is. But screeds rarely make for the best 
public policy. And any sort of rational reading of the measure should 
give thoughtful voters plenty of reasons to vote "no."

Measure 80 would create a seven-member state cannabis commission to 
essentially make sure that marijuana becomes Oregon's largest cash 
crop - and that Oregon, with the full backing and support of state 
government, would become worldwide cheerleaders for the glories of 
hemp and marijuana.

Five of the seven members of the commission would be drawn from the 
state's cannabis community - "elected at large by growers and 
processors," in the words of the measure. Again, unless you're a 
member of the cannabis community, you might be able to see some 
potential problems here.

The measure also includes no limits on personal possession and cultivation.

In short, it's a mess - even for a measure that tries to define 
itself as a "scientific experiment by the people of Oregon."

There's little doubt that state and federal drug policy also is a 
mess. Oregon's medical marijuana program has grown beyond all 
expectations, leaving plenty of unanswered questions, and federal 
policy has been ineffective, if not counterproductive. But you don't 
start cleaning up a mess by making it worse, and that's exactly what 
Measure 80 would do.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom