There Are Eight Ballot Measures Before the Voters in Oregon on Nov. 2. The first two deal with uncontroversial matters, but the other six touch on some of Oregon's top "hot-button issues. A summary of what each measure does and the arguments pro and con follows. The explanations are based on information in the Oregon Secretary of State's website. The arguments pro and con represent a sampling of the best arguments found among those in the Voter's Pamphlet, mailings and e-mails, talks with persons involved with the measures, and in newspaper articles. [continues 497 words]
For the first half of the forum in Toledo last Wednesday, the candidates made their pitches and replied to those of their opponents. But after that, they replied to questions from the audience - and the answers those questions elicited were among the most interesting of the evening. One question asked the Sheriff candidates their views on the medical marijuana ballot measure. It produced some interesting soul-searching by the two candidates. "I've been in law enforcement for 28-1/2 years," replied Sheriff Dotson, "and the idea of legalizing marijuana was very hard for me to accept. I've listened to the county drug team's stories, and they see the effect it had on people. But - my stepfather has pancreatic cancer, and is in a lot of pain. The chemo has not worked. His wife asked me, 'How do I obtain marijuana?' ... So I'm conflicted on this. He was a smoker and then he quit. I think the amount in the measure" that would be decriminalized for medical purposes, "one pound, is far too much. That's my only objection to Measure 33," Dotson said. [continues 362 words]
