Elections officials cleared eight more statewide initiatives for signature-gathering this week, including several that would repeal the Measure 7 property compensation initiative. Others would increase the amount of marijuana that patients can possess under Oregon's medical marijuana program and amend the state constitution to include "the inalienable right" to display the Ten Commandments in public schools. More than 40 initiatives have been approved for circulation for the Nov. 5 ballot. Several of the latest proposals deal with land-use planning. Two would amend the constitution to provide property owners with the right, under some circumstances, to compensation for land-use rules that reduce their property's value, but only after voters approved a new money source. [continues 148 words]
Key U.S. Lawmakers Have The Support Of A National Hospice Group To Change Oregon's Use Of Drugs Key members of Congress are preparing to renew their attacks on Oregon's physician-assisted-suicide law with legislation to be introduced as soon as next week. They have already gained support from the National Hospice Organization, one of the groups that led the successful fight against their proposals last session. Like the bills that stalled in the House and Senate last year, the new legislation would outlaw the use of controlled substances for assisted suicide while permitting the aggressive use of pain medication, even when it hastens death. [continues 806 words]
* Federal officials oppose a bill that prohibits doctors from prescribing certain drugs, but the senator wants them to offer an alternative WASHINGTON -- Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, coaxed and prodded the Clinton administration Friday to work with Congress in trying to block Oregon's physician-assisted suicide law. The administration, weighing in for the first time on the fate of Oregon's law, has decided to oppose anti-assisted suicide legislation now in Congress. Its testimony Friday before the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Hatch leads, puts a significant barrier in the path of Hatch and his allies. [continues 799 words]
The attorney general says she wasn't notified before the agency declared it could sanction doctors who follow Oregon's law of The Oregonian staff WASHINGTON Attorney General Janet Reno said Thursday that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration failed to notify her before declaring it would discipline Oregon doctors who prescribe lethal medication. Reno also said she has not talked about the issue with Thomas A. Constantine, DEA administrator. Constantine outlined his agency's position on physicianassisted suicide in a Nov. 5 letter to Sen. Orin Hatch, RUtah, and Rep. Henry Hyde, RIll., chairmen of the Senate and House Judiciary committees, which oversee the DEA. [continues 1146 words]
