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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 6, 1986)
Marijuana Initiative supporters meet deadline Petitioners say they're gearing up for an ambitious, grass-roots campaign Oregon voters will decide this year whether to allow people 18 years and older to possess or grow marijuana for personal use when they vote on the Oregon Marijuana Initiative, which will appear as Ballot Measure 5, on the Nov. 4 ballot. The initiative qualified for the ballot alter petitioners submitted more than 87,000 signatures to the state elections division on Nov. 1. 1985. although state law requires only 62,521 valid signatures for an initiative to appear on the ballot. Deadline for the signatures is July 4, 1986 register voters in unprecedented numbers. Marijuana is an issue that will cause people to register and vote," he says. Under current state law, posses sion of less than one ounce of mari juana is an infraction and non criminal in nature: selling marijuana is a class B felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison: and growing marijuana is a class A felony punishable by up to 20 years. Ocr ther says. ."Adults who choose to grow and consume marijuana in private should not be subject , to criminal penalties." Oerther says. "‘Nobody * Adults who choose to grow and consume marijuana in private should not be subject ■ to criminal penalties.. .Nobody is passing a petition to legalize murder or rape or any serious crime.9 — Fred Oerther By submitting their petition to Secretary of State Barbara Roberts’ office more than six months ahead of the deadline, supporters of the OMI were assured of an early deci sion as to the validity of their signatures. And if Roberts' office rules that too many signatures are invalid, supporters of the initiative will be able to submit additional signatures. -V Since receiving word that their in itiative will be on the November ballot, OMI supporters have been gearing" up their canhpaign “We know that we have to create a grass roots* precinct-level, political organization which is capable of delivering the votes.” says Fred Oerther. the chief peti tioner for OMI. "We’re going to is passing a petition to legalize murder or rape or any serious crime.'’ .'_••• • The OMI proposal is.not purpor ting to be the answer to drug abuse. Oerthcr says. Marijuana use has become an ingrained social custom in America..and.Oerthcr estimates that one-third of the' adults in Oregon use marijuana regularly ' But several groups from around the state are lining up in opposition to OM1 John Williams, superinten dent of the Oregon Department of State Police, has voiced his opposi lion to OMI. although he says adults who grow manjuana in private for personal use are not sought by police « , > “We don't go around searching peoples’ backyards to see if. they're D Emerald file photo growing one or two plants. We just don't have the resources," he says. Although Oerthcr says 20 percent of the U.S. criminal enforcement budget is spent tracking down mari juana offenders. Williams denies that legalizing marijuana would save the police money "The position of the state police is that we want to point out some of the harmful effects of marijuana and to dispel the notion that legalization will save us money," Williams says "The percentage of the budget we spend in controlling commercial growing and selling of marijuana is probably less than 5 percent of our narcotics budget -Thai would be less than I percent of our overall budget." . , ,° And legalization would make marijuana much easier to attain, he says. . ' ! •. ’ : . "All children will have to do, is get a couple of plants and then they will be able to grow 'all they want." Ik says. '• But Ocrther calls this - ‘unrealistic thinking." • "If you ask.children now, ‘Can you get drugs in school?' they will say ‘yes.’ And they cant get all that they want, and how much more is there?" Ocrther asks : ‘ - .."The (OMI) wijl force “.. the schools to deal honestly with mari juana and drugs Marijuana use is not a sin or a moral defect." he adds. ' .' '• ■ But Rodney Page, the executive director of the Ecumenical Ministries, disagrees with Ocrthcr's statements about drug education •' 'u •• "•< • ■ "I think that there is more educa tion available today than ever before regarding the use of drugs and the cvils," he says. The Ecumenical Ministries, of Oregon, an organization .of 15 ministries from various denomina tions.. is preparing to issue a state ment detailing its specific objections toOMI . "We seek „a- society that is-free from substance abuse,'' Page says, "f don’t think that there is any responsible use of drugs ” . Another possible effect of Ballot Measure 5 would push dealers out of business by allowing marijuana users to grow their own supply, Oerther says. "We want to divorce ourselves from criminal trafficking in drugs. We will do so by growing our own." o'". o»°. Photo by Ktm Marlin Oregon. Marijuana Initiative supporters; were on campus earlier this fall circulating petitions-tp ensure the measure wpuiil have enough ‘signatures■ tti make it on’ the November ballot." . However,- Williams believes marijuana growers will move into the state if.QMI- passes He said the market for' Oregon-grown mari juana spaas the country. , And wfhilc the-National Organize tion for- the Reform of Marijuana Laws suggests that the prohibit ton of marijuana is unenforceable and therefore .promotes disrespect for. the faw. Page disagrees • "Alcohof represents a good ease study in the legalization ol a drug Had people been more informed about 'what -effect “alcohol would have on our socijrty. they may not have ftrpfealed- prohibition.he says. . • /' • •• Y • TheOMI failed to qualify for the November. 1984 balhit because then Secretary of State. N6rma Paulus decided .the petition contained too many invalid signatures This caus ed an outcry from supporters of the initiative who claimed that Paulus'. office had-.committed several technical errors in verifying the signatures Initiative supporters 111 ed suit in Oregon Supreme Court seeking an order to put the measure - on th? ballot The Supreme Court ordered a re cijuntof the petition signatures, which showed that an insufficient number of the signatures were valid. But Paulus acknowledged that her office as well as the state and county clerks' offices hail made a sera's of errors in validating signatures dur mg the first sampling TW recount determined that 121 • signatures had been erroneously in validated tn the first statistical cam pie..; whigh included 5.157 signatures from the4 petition f'aulus said the recount hail produced a 24 percent invalid rate, which is three times as high as usual ’ ‘ . *• 1-* . f t PcUt.ioner.s requested iS yiHirt order fiVrcmg Paulus (neither check the validity itf all signatures on the petition, rather than a random sam pic. .or put 4he» measure on the a November I4H4 ballot On Sept 12. ' the Supreme Court rejected their riequeat. . •• Story by Chris Norred Doonesbury BY GARRY TRUDEAU HE CANT fWYME, BUT H&LL THROW ME AN 0PENIN6UHEN Em pone! rKANMcnemt opportunity! turner, i cm only mm of \ ONEPOUNVPE.. A DOUN9PE* TO PAINTING ATOWL5WW B&TOUSIS YEAHTTCOULD CONE OFF AG A &AWT CA REER MOVE. 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