Regarding your Sept. 23 editorial ("Meas. 74 would further confuse pot issue," The Times) not only should medical marijuana be made available to patients in need, but adult recreational use should be regulated. Drug policies modeled after alcohol prohibition have given rise to a youth-oriented black market. Illegal drug dealers don't ID for age, but they do recruit minors immune to adult sentences. So much for protecting the children. Throwing more money at the problem is no solution. Attempts to limit the supply of illegal drugs while demand remains constant only increase the profitability of drug trafficking. For addictive drugs like heroin, a spike in street prices leads desperate addicts to increase criminal activity to feed desperate habits. The drug war doesn't fight crime, it fuels crime. Taxing and regulating marijuana, the most popular illicit drug, is a cost-effective alternative to never-ending drug war. As long as marijuana distribution is controlled by organized crime, consumers will continue to come into contact with hard drugs like methamphetamine. Robert Sharpe [end]
Oregon's allowance for the medical use of marijuana has created a mess - -- placing pot in a murky legal status that is confusing for law enforcement, employers and even the people who might have a legitimate health reason for the use of marijuana. Given the well-documented problems with the medical marijuana program, we agree with proponents of Measure 74, which appears on the Nov. 2 ballot: Something needs to be done. In our view, however, this particular measure would only add to the confusion, pushing marijuana closer to legalization without actually making it legal. [continues 207 words]
Tigard-Based Human Collective Is Offering Free 'Medicine' To Medical Marijuana Card Holders Through August Medical marijuana patients in short supply of their medicinal Mary Jane can now turn to a Tigard company to get the medicine they need. Human Collective, a nonprofit medical marijuana clinic on Pacific Highway in Tigard, is offering free medical marijuana to cardholders, as a way to keep people from turning to the black market. "There are a lot of patients who have a lag time between the time that they register with the state and the time that their grower can produce their medicine," said Sarah Bennett, founder and director of Human Collective. "They have needs that are immediate. You can go and get your Advil or your aspirin or your other prescription drugs in a timely manner because you're in pain and you're suffering, and that's what we try to offer here." [continues 450 words]
Thanks for publishing Greg Francisco's thoughtful letter, "Stop getting tough on drugs, get smart" (The Times, Dec. 13). If tough-on-drugs policies worked, the idealistic goal of a drug-free America would have been reached a long time ago. And if tolerant marijuana policies caused more hard-drug use and crime, the Czech Republic would have much higher rates of hard-drug use and crime. They do not. The Czech Republic is the only country in the world where adult citizens can legally use, purchase, possess and grow small quantities of marijuana. (In the Netherlands, marijuana is quasi-legal - not officially legal.) [continues 155 words]
Although I agree with Greg Francisco ("Stop getting tough on drugs, get smart," Valley Times, Dec. 13) that cigarettes arguably kill more Americans than all other drugs combined, his comparison of nicotine use to alcohol, heroin, methamphetamine or other such substances shows the weakness of his entire argument. Tobacco is a legal substance for adults to purchase and ingest. Tobacco does not impair one's ability to drive or think clearly, nor do nicotine addicts rob, steal, burglarize or murder to support their nicotine habit. [continues 248 words]
After all the lies of reefer madness the government and law enforcement say about cannabis (marijuana) how do citizens, and especially youth, know they're telling the truth about meth? ("Continue, expand fight against meth," Valley Times, Nov. 29.) According to government reports, cannabis is the biggest problem in North America, not meth - just ask the U.S. drug czar. Today's pot is more like cocaine, causing cancer and all. Cannabis which, to my knowledge, has never killed anyone in over 5,000 years of documented use is a Schedule I substance right next to heroin, and meth is only rated a Schedule II substance - so meth must not be a big deal, right? What's the truth? Dillon, Colorado [end]
Methamphetamine addiction is a serious problem. Fewer home-based labs churning out meth and toxic waste is good news. Mexican-produced methamphetamine now flooding the market is discouraging but not a reason to wave the white flag. You got all of that exactly right in your Nov. 29 editorial ("Continue, expand fight against meth"). And in the same editorial you reveal exactly why Washington County law enforcement agencies report "as much methamphetamine, possibly even more, is available now." "A focused and collaborative approach by citizens, legislators and law enforcement officers can make an appreciable difference in the war against meth." So says your editorial. Ummm, aren't you forgetting something? Like the most important piece of the puzzle? [continues 177 words]
How should Oregon respond to illicit methamphetamine use? During the crack epidemic of the 1980s, New York City chose the zero tolerance approach, opting to arrest and prosecute as many offenders as possible. Meanwhile, Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry was smoking crack and America's capital had the highest per capita murder rate in the country. Yet crack use declined in both cities simultaneously. Simply put, the younger generation saw firsthand what crack was doing to their older brothers and sisters and decided for themselves that crack was bad news. [continues 57 words]
Methamphetamine, a most addictive and destructive substance, is no longer flowing out of a meth lab located in a home next door, or from a motel room or building down the street. Instead, it is streaming across the U.S.-Mexican border and into the Portland region in seemingly greater quantities than before. One possible response to this trend might be for citizens to throw up their hands and say that all of Oregon's efforts to control methamphetamine have been for naught - that it is futile to try to stamp out this scourge. [continues 500 words]
