Source: Bulletin, The (OR)
Contact:  http://www.bendbulletin.com 
Pubdate: 6 Oct 98
Section: My nickel's worth
Page:A-6
Author: Allan Erickson, Junction City

MEASURE 67 HAS MERIT

Two weeks ago you ran an editorial against Measure 67, the medical
marijuana inititive. And I had thought you were fairly enlightened on the
east side of the Cascades. Apparently 60 years of government anti-pot
propaganda means more to you than 10,000 years of anecdotal evidence or the
pile of medical liturature that finds pot medically beneficial in many
ways, for many illnesses.

The insainity of the drug war is expensive monetarily for the United States
population. For example, in Texas a young man was killed by U.S. Marines on
patrol (on U.S. soil) along the U.S.-Mexican border (drug interdiction).
That young man was a teen-ager caring for the family livestock and had no
connection with the drug community at all. While not calling the Marines
guilty, the U.S. government paid $ 1.9 million restitution to the family of
that teen-ager.

The drug war makes millionaires out of ruthless thugs. With
unconstitutional property seizures, use of felons as infornants, and
internal corruption a major (global) problem, the need to reassess- our
laws, the actions of law enforcement, and our attitudes-is paramount if we
are to enter the third millennium intact.

Please vote " Yes " on Measure 67. The Bulletin has erred in support of
compassionless, political pigheaededness. Measure 67 is about choice, about
the ability to self-medicate and about the direction our country will take
in the near future.

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Checked-by: Pat Dolan