Starting in the 1930s, our nation's first drug czar, Harry Anslinger, used yellow journalism to play upon citizens' racism to escalate the war on cannabis. Anslinger claimed that most users were "Negroes, Hispanics, Filipinos, and entertainers" and that "marijuana causes white women to seek sexual relations with Negroes, entertainers, and any others." It is sad to see Willamette Week also used to push this war. On June 1, 2006, WW reported ["The Mexican Connection"] that "Mexican cartels are moving into Oregon" and that a police sergeant "has spotted suspected drug bosses in snakeskin boots and white cowboy hats lined up outside clubs blaring mariachi music." Now, Portland has been invaded by "Asian crime rings from north of the border" who set up "high-tech marijuana grows" that have "a detrimental effect on the other houses in the neighborhood. [And] we're talking about some decent neighborhoods" ["Canadian Bakin'," June 27]. [continues 117 words]
After waking up for the last seven years, putting on a bullet-proof vest and placing my life on the line, I am amazed to find out I am part of the problem causing the nation-wide drug epidemic. According to Rev. Donald R. Caughey, my fellow officers, the system and myself have made everything worse (Letters, July 16, "Tougher drug laws don't solve anything"). Rev. Caughey is correct in saying that the addiction should be treated as an illness, with proper medical attention. However, he has no clue when it comes to "take the profit out of production." How does he recommend we do that? Do we not address this issue by going after the drug dealers, attacking their market and sending them to jail? [continues 145 words]
The case of a wayward principal reignites debate about drug use in the Columbia County community Aaron Miller must have had an awful feeling in his stomach when a Clatsop County sheriff's deputy approached him in a public park this month and asked him, "Have you been smoking pot?" Miller said yes, which wouldn't be news except that a) he is an elementary school principal in the Vernonia School District, and b) the district argued all the way to the Supreme Court in 1995 that it had the right to test all student-athletes for illegal drug use. The court agreed. [continues 429 words]
Regarding the article, "Vernonia buzzing over pot penalty" (July 14), when last asked (1998), Oregonians overwhelmingly opposed the recriminalization of less than an ounce of marijuana (more properly referred to as cannabis). We defeated the Legislature's recriminalization bill by a majority in every county, including Columbia County. More Oregonians voted against recriminalizing cannabis than voted for Gov. John Kitzhaber, at a time when his popularity was demonstrated in his landslide re-election victory. Second, cannabis prohibition has done much more harm than cannabis use. Adults using cannabis responsibly do not put our children at risk. Prohibition and the resultant arrests, prosecution and forfeitures do much more harm to our children and families than cannabis itself ever could. Leland R. Berger Northeast Portland [end]
Of the eight Democrats vying for their party's presidential nomination, I think it's fair to say former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel is the longest of the long shots. In presidential preference polls, support for him hovers around 1 percent. When it comes to fundraising, his campaign coffers are nearly bare. So it's not surprising journalists tend to treat Gravel as a gadfly. And that's what I thought of him late last month when I sat across from the Democratic presidential candidates on the stage of Howard University's Crampton Auditorium. I was one of the three journalists who got to question the full field of Democratic contenders during a PBS presidential forum hosted by Tavis Smiley. [continues 595 words]
Scandal - A Tough-On-Drugs District Goes Easy on a Principal, Giving the Town Something to Talk About VERNONIA -- Chatter filled the hot, hazy air here Friday, from a swimming hole where wrestlers backflip off long knotted ropes to a senior center thrift shop where tutting ladies pursed their mouths, from the local credit union where tellers came to tears to the hardware and auto parts stores where regulars spoke like oracles: The fate of Aaron Miller was on the minds and lips of Vernonians. [continues 858 words]
Inside The First Amendment "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" doesn't have a hidden meaning. In fact, the phrase doesn't mean anything at all. But when high school senior Joe Frederick held up a banner with those now-famous words in 2002, he triggered a chain of events that led to the 5-4 Supreme Court ruling drawing new lines around student free-expression rights in public schools. Frederick unfurled his "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" message while students and faculty were gathered to watch the Olympic torch pass by his school in Juneau, Alaska. [continues 622 words]
Drug Testing - Since 1989, The School District Has Had Strict Anti-Drug Rules For Its Athletes For nearly two decades the Vernonia School District has been at the forefront of fighting student drug use, even taking its mandatory drug-testing policy of athletes to the U.S. Supreme Court -- and winning. But a 41-year-old Vernonia elementary principal will keep his job, even after getting cited at Fort Stevens State Park last week for possession of marijuana. Vernonia Superintendent Kenneth Cox said Tuesday that Aaron Miller has his "full support" and will stay on as principal of Washington Grade School and Mist Elementary School after telling a Clatsop County sheriff's deputy that he'd been smoking pot. [continues 662 words]
To the editor: I want to thank Pamela Sterling for standing up for herself and educating the public about Kevin Mannix's initiative to criminalize thousands of sick and disabled patients while giving pharmaceutical companies a handout at the expense of Oregon's taxpayers. Mannix should not be making medical decisions for Oregonians and our state should not replace a program that actually brings in revenue with a system that would cost Oregonians millions. Our medical marijuana program has a budget surplus even though the Oregon Legislature gobbled up most of that surplus during the 2005 legislative session. [continues 63 words]
To the editor: Kudos to the Newberg Graphic for printing David Sale's excellent article, "Taking up the fight to protect medical Marijuana (June 30), on Kevin Mannix' latest attempt to destroy the Oregon Medical Marijuana Act. Mannix, an apparent lobbyist for our nation's drug war industry and corporate pharmaceutical giants, once again seeks to take pot away from Oregon's patients. After a failed attempt in 1999 Mannix has returned and this time he seeks to replace the nation's most successful medical cannabis program by coupling it to the methamphetamine problem. [continues 87 words]
As a retired police officer, I know something about the issue of marijuana prohibition. Mr. Petryni's article did a fine rehash of the pros and cons but he left out a huge area of consideration; namely the reduction in public safety caused by the prohibition. In my 18 years as a cop, I was sent to zero calls for service generated by the use of marijuana. My colleagues spend millions of hours chasing adult pot smokers which leaves a lot less time to arrest drunk drivers and child predators. No question from a police perspective, the prohibition of cannabis reduces public safety. Officer Howard J. Wooldridge (retired) [end]
Regarding Matt Petryni's thoughtful June 7th op-ed, if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. Dire warnings that marijuana inspires homicidal rages have been counterproductive at best. [continues 116 words]
Proposed Ballot Meausre Would Undo Existing Law; Local Woman Stricken With a Variety of Maladies Vows to Fight the Legislation Newberg resident Pamela Sterling is not ashamed of her drug use. Due to chronic illness, the 43-year-old former registered nurse enrolled four years ago in Oregon's medical marijuana program, one of 231 current members in Yamhill County. Approved by voters in 1998, participants are issued cards identifying them as members on the recommendation of a qualified doctor -- a M.D. or osteopath (D.O.) -- who has diagnosed them with a qualifying condition such as glaucoma, cancer, Alzheimer's disease or chronic pain. Enrollment allows members to possess and use marijuana, as well as to grow up to seven marijuana plants for personal use. [continues 1057 words]
The resolving of the issue of hemp bags at Forest Grove High School ("Over The Hemp," News-Times, May 30, 2007). could have been a contentious and loud community dispute, but in the end displayed Oregon at its best. The principal of Forest Grove High School, John O'Neill, behaved cautiously and intelligently. He gave the students the ultimate challenge of education: "prove it." And the students, to their credit, did. In Oregon we are experienced with cannabis. About 10 years ago Bill Conde "proved it" by producing hemp MDF (medium-density fiberboard) boards at the Washington State University wood products laboratory. [continues 219 words]
In his latest column, Matt Petryni ignores the cannabis science-base and thus creates a haze ("Cannabis debate caught in smoky haze" ODE, June 8, 2007). Cannabis does not cause cancer, as Petryni stated. In fact, cannabis has been, double-blind peer-reviewed, proven time and time again to be an anti-cancer agent. Drivers that test positive for cannabis are less likely to be involved in an accident. We should reject the notion that it's more important to lie than to tell the truth - just to send a message. Six hundred thousand Americans die each year from tobacco and alcohol, 100,000 from legal drugs and zero from cannabis. It's way past time for an honest debate on cannabis. John Kirkman Oakridge, Ore. [end]
Arguments in favor and in opposition to the criminalization of cannabis are somewhat tired and repetitive. But what is fascinating is the level to which a stigma concerning marijuana has penetrated the American culture. Oregon was one of the first states to criminalize it in 1923. Fifty years later, in the 1970s, Oregon made possession of less than an ounce a misdemeanor - a form of decriminalization. Later, Oregon's libertarian spirit led it to solidify its place in cannabis decriminalization history, being one of only a handful of states to make marijuana legal for medicinal use. [continues 747 words]
Students at Forest Grove High School Strike a Deal to Allow Sale of Bags Made From Sustainable Crop If you stroll the the halls of Forest Grove High School these days and know what to look for, you'll see that a few dozen students are carrying tote bags made from Cannabis sativa. The bags are perfectly legal, as is the hemp that makes up 55 percent of their fabric. But the relationship of hemp to its genetic cousin, marijuana, kept the totes under wraps for months and sparked a spirited discussion about the benefits of sustainable crops. [continues 790 words]
Finally, someone throws a brick at the drug war in the Weekly. Jim Greig writes passionately in his opinion piece "End The War At Home" (5/3). Those who know the state of our forests understand how beneficial hemp could be in removing the blight of harvesting trees for fiber. Hemp produces four times the fiber of trees per acre. So, if Oregonians are concerned about declining dollars, protecting salmon and trout habitat and keeping our forests vibrant and productive ... hemp is THE answer. [continues 153 words]
Regarding Jim Greig's thoughtful May 3 op-ed, if health outcomes determined drug laws instead of cultural norms, marijuana would be legal. Unlike alcohol, marijuana has never been shown to cause an overdose death, nor does it share the addictive properties of tobacco. Like any drug, marijuana can be harmful if abused, but jail cells are inappropriate as health interventions and ineffective as deterrents. The first marijuana laws were enacted in response to Mexican migration during the early 1900s, despite opposition from the American Medical Association. [continues 97 words]
I'm writing about: "La Pine man busted for marijuana growing operation" (5-17-07). I'm sure many marijuana growers and sellers are thankful to the detectives of the Central Oregon Drug Enforcement Team for this latest marijuana bust and others like it. Without operations like this, marijuana would be worth what other easy-to-grow weeds are worth -- very little. Thanks to the Drug Enforcement Administration and other so-called "drug warriors," the easy-to-grow weed is worth more than pure gold - -- and completely tax free. Any marijuana growers, sellers or traffickers arrested will soon be replaced. They always are. Kirk Muse Mesa, Arizona [end]
Inside Oregon
