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
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?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