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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 29, 1981)
opinion The time is right for Fade ley's bill Should Oregon take that giant step and legalize the growing of marijuana for personal use? State Senator Ed Fadeley. D-Eugene. thinks it's time Oregon did We, at The Emerald, agree with Fadeley s suggestion It is time to evaluate the laws governing the use of marijuana and permit those who choose to, to grow a specified amount for personal consumption QLX5 Fadeley came out with his pro-grow-your-own statements after a rash of multi-million dollar marijuana cultivation arrests west of Eugene "I was struck,” he said, "by how burning $2 million worth of Lane County-grown marijuana did nothing but help the Mafia — and increase the prices for their smuggled marijuana from other places " Beyond Fadeley's ire over increased marijuana prices, and his obvious civic pride, his concern to legalize grow your-own marijuana is realistic What he is advocating is a sensible approach, an approach that will only benefit the state in the long run Fadeley also couldn't understand why the $2 million worth of marijuana had to be burned when it could've been sold for medical purposes Marijuana use has come to be recognized as a victimless crime That is, the society is not put in fear by the marijuana user as it is when a rapist is loose Yet, there is the personal toll to the user Arrests in Lane County for marijauna violations exceeded 1200 last year How many of those futures were ruined because of arrest for a small quantity of marijuana7 The state s already overcrowded prisons are full of youths who were arrested for possession or cultivation Their lives will forever be stained by a criminal record What hopes do they have to straighten out their lives7 It would be easier to continue as a criminal That's the curriculum they learn in prison Laws banning marijuana use possession and cultivation are akin to alcohol prohibition in the 1920s and 30s And from a law enforcement standpoint marijuana prohibition has been just as futile as alcohol prohibition was Not only that, it’s costly The money spent on man-hours and equipment (planes autos animals, etc ) seizing a tiny plot of marijuana is astronomical and all but wasted Sources inside the Oregon State Police admit they seize but a small percentage of the total Oregon crop In these bleak economic times Fadeley s proposal is more than a bright idea A grow-your-own marijuana law would free law enforcement budgets from one very large (and very dubious) expense This then would let the police concentrate their manpower and equipment in the areas of property and violent, victim-related crimes The control of these crimes is certainly more important to society than the hours spent staking-out and raiding the backyard of a marijuana user A grow-your-own law would also end much of the violence associated with the large-scale cultivation of the extremely lucrative crop There have been numerous deaths and robberies in the ‘ sub-world” of the marijuana farmer We could dust 10 to 15 years worth of cobwebs off countless statements favoring marijuana legalization and still, after all this time make a persuasive argument The recognition that marijuana has a definite medicinal value (as in cases of glaucoma and chemotherapy) is the result of recent testing Researchers are still testing marijuana for its medical uses — the extent of which is not yet known Fadeley's grow-your-own marijuana law makes tremen dous sense It lies halfway between limited decriminalization and full legalization of marijuana — which is where most people reside on the issue Fadeley has said he plans to introduce a grow-your-own bill into the 1983 Legislature The Emerald urges him to introduce this progressive bill as soon as possible letters policy The Emerald will accept and attempt to print all letters containing fair comment on issues, ideas and topics of interest to the University community The letters must be limited to 250 words signed and the identification of the writer must be verified when the letter is turned in to the Emerald offices. EMU 300 The Emerald reserves the right to edit any letter for length, style or content Pub lication of letters is depen dent upon the space availa ble e».lu M4 nmmhO M4J0WTV ?rhsipemti Duarte voucanteil they, in Washington that El Salvador continues to NOVc steadily towards democracy ' vex jts What else? Well, here we are University students in the Fall of 1981 The summer is over and most of us have tasks we must carry out in the near future we register we buy books, we attend classes we take exams but what else7 We do like to have tun' We go to parties take advantage of different types of evening en tertainment and enjoy the lei sure time that seems to make our lives worth living but what else7 Do we look beyond this relatively comfortable (and for so many of us — pre-paid) environment7 If we do choose to look beyond we might ask the fol lowing question Do we, as educated citizens of the most influential country in the world have a responsibility to monitor the actions of the national leaders who represent us. and see to it that the global results or their actions are in keeping with the basic human rights and civil liberties embodied in our constitution7 The people of El Salvador. Southern Africa Guatamala West Germany and France (to cite some examples) — who sense both fear and frustration with the current ad ministration s economic and military policies — would say yes The choice of course, is ours Christian Gunther Junior, Sociology Anti-bicycle Recently while searching for work. I encountered a local cor poration that was unwilling to even consider hiring me because I use a bicycle for transportation and do not drive an automobile to get around town I find this anti-bicycle atti tude to be a blatant form of dis crimination against a whole social class of people who for various reasons, including economy, exercise, and envir onmental concern, choose to ride bicycles to and from their places of work Recently, Springfield's Mayor, John Lively, proclaimed and observed "Pedal to Work Day I believe that everyone should have the opportunity to bicycle to work if they choose to do so If local employers are unwilling to allow employees to commute by bicycle then per haps it is time tor legislation to add bicyclists to the present list of protected classes (i e race religion sex, age and martial status) James Sayre Bicyclist Fair share There is a movement afoot at the University to rescind "Fair Share " That is, to reject the portion of the Oregon Public Employees Union (OPEU) con tract which requires union fees to be paid by all members of the bargaining unit Those that protest the require ments call it taxation without their fair share The fact of the matter is that they have been freeloading off the rest of us and would be doing so once again if decertification suc ceeds A better description of the situation would be called representation without taxa tion " State law requires OPEU to represent all employees in the bargaining unit OPEU, or more accurately, we who pay dues, have been footing the bill for everyone Everyone receives the benefits of the improved wages insurance and working conditions negotiated by our team They also receive legal assistance in pursuing grievances and other union services Anyone who would sign a pe tition to rescind "Fair share" should consider the following We (OPEU) members) have al ready been representing every one It would be to their benefit to become a member and have a voice in the union And we will all benefit from a bigger, stronger union I urge em ployees to support "Fair share by removing their signatures from the current petitions, or by not signing in the first place Nancy Garvin Library, Catalog Dept. Reactionary It was a calculated move that prompted the "yellow ribbon martyrs" to move their court date from Sept 23 to Oct 6 This way. school is back in ses sion and they hope to use the trial to organize students around their own brand of red cloaked reactionary politics Both yellow ribbon martyrs" are members of the self-pro claimed Revolutionary" so called ‘‘Communist" Youth Brigade better known as the irascible RCYB Their actions at the Victor Tomseth speech reveal the dangerous adventur ism and slimy opportunism of The brigade and poses many questions as to the real nature of their organization When Tomseth came to the University last winter it was ex plicitly meant to whip up racist reactionary nationalism for U S imperialism Instead of a pep rally for reaction, Tomseth was met by an angry crowd yelling CIA CIA CIA Then, before he had uttered a single word an RCYB member lit a gasoline-soaked yellow rag and threw it at the podium The ballroom was packed with over a thousand screaming people When the smoke started rising from the front it threw every body into a state of alarm and confusion that easily could have erupted into panic Tomseth s bodyguard yanked him from the stage and almost ended the event before it had started' This crazy stunt by the RCYB endangered the lives of over a thousand people and could have been a real set-up for an attack of innocent Iranian and even ' middle-eastern-looking' students by reactionaries scat tered around the room The Iranian students had the responsibility and the right to plan any action exposing Tom seth as spy RCYB pulled their stunt totally on their own The result of their action was not "Victor Tomseth exposed as CIA spy — but instead created the "yellow ribbon martyrs vic tims of police brutality " The RCYB deserves no sup port or sympathy for their irre sponsibility The yellow ribbon incident is just one of many in cidents that serve to undermine the work of progressive people building a revolution Let's not let the RCYB hide behind the yellow ribbon again Tim Ingalsbee 345-9221
