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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 10, 1987)
Editorial Decriminalize pot? Just say 'Yes' Thr Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1988 seeks to legalize the possession and cultivation of marijuana for personal use In contrast to the problems of the 1986 act, this measure reconciles concerns raised in I960 and should be supported by the community. The 1986 act allowed those over the age of 18 to possess marijuana, raising objections that it was an invitation for teenagers to consume the illicit drug The Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Acto of 1988. however, raises the legal age for consumption to 21. partially dispelling con cerns that decriminalizing marijuana would be an invitation to teenagers to grow and smoke the drug In 1086, some people complained the act would allow marijuana consumers to grow an unlimited amount of mari juana — an amount much greater than needed for personal use. Hut the new act properly limits the amount of marijuana an individual can grow to three plants. Furthermore, the revised initiative specifically ad dresses concerns al>out where marijuana may In* grown and where it may be possessed. According to the Control Act. the drug only may be grown in the privacy of one's residence and completely out of sight from any public place. One may possess marijuana only in the privacy of a residence, thereby ensuring the individual's right to privacy while minimizing social costs associated with public ex posure to the drug. Possession of marijuana while driving will remain illegal, as it should. The 1986 act failed to limit the quantity of pot an in dividual could posses at any one time. The Prevention and Control Act of 1988, however, limits the quanitity an in dividual may posses to "four avoirdupois ounces when dry." which the Control Act refers to as a "personal use amount." In contrast to the 1986 act, the Control Act of 1988 ap propriately places marijuana consumption under the regula tion of the state of Oregon. The act requires users to purchase a $50 non transferable "cannabis personal use certificate" from county health departments. Fifty percent of the net revenue will be used for "drug and alcohol abuse prevention and treatment programs" and 50 percent will be used to enhance the health of the community in general Thus the initiative, if passed, increases funds available to county health care and prevention programs with no extra cost to the community. In the long run. such educational programs will prove more effective against fighting drug abuse than criminal punishment The Control Act of l‘!HH effectively serves to reallocate crime prevention forces and funds to more threatening drug abuse problems, such as cocaine and heroin addiction. Furthermore, the act frees law enforcement officials from pursuing small-scale, personal-use growers to eradicate large-scale, profit growers in Southern Oregon and elsewhere in the Northwest. To prevent drug abuse more efficiently and to allocate the communtity's crime prevention resources more effec tively, the public should support and affirm the Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1988. i >" A 1 *r a*ur* mw* *r fiAttr ***$ GtOUKWHO? 'yw sa.i owhww wmK that crosses this b* oesk ' Letters Rope 'n' ride 1 am a member of a hand, (hi* Guardians of American Morali ty. which has been the subject of some controversy lately, There have been allegations that one of our posters, which in cluded a nude photograph of the pop star Madonna, was of fensive and promoted violence toward women. I do not personally find our poster offensive because I designed it I do not claim to tie an arbiter of others' tastes. Hut I can personally testify, and the Oct to Emerald article concern ing the Guardians also would seem to indicate, that the only violence that has resulted from our poster has lieeu committed by women and directed at men. If anyone's poster was an in citement to violence, it would seem to me to have been the in flammatory one urging a boycott of our performance When 1 attempted to sell Guar d i a n s T-shirts to the demonstrators outside Taylor's Tavern. I was greeted with a c horus of "take the rocks off rock 'n' roll,” led by a brief (yes. brief) woman wearing a bicycle helmet. Mindful of the fate of Orpheus. 1 retreated without making any sales Were 1 one of the left fascists who infest the; campus lately, I suppose I might demand the resignations of the heads of Oregon Daily Emerald The Oregon Dally Emerald la published Monday through Friday except during exam week and vacations by the Oregon Dally Emerald Publishing Co . at the University of Oregon, Eugene. Oregon. 97403 The Emerald operates independently ol the University with ottices on the third floor ol the Erb Memorial Union and is a member ol the Aasociated Press The Emerald Is private properly The unlawful removal or use ol papers is prosecutable by law General Stall Advertising Director Susan Thelen Production Manager Michele Ross Classified Manager Kelli Mason Assistant to the Publisher Jean Ownbey Advertising Sates: Ten Boring. Gary Delossa. Tom Leech. Catherine Lilia. Rick Mart/. Laura McKinney. Heather Mull. Joann Nelson, Julie Paul. Barbara Rogers. Scott Thortuldson, Joan Wildermuth News and Editorial 686 5511 Display Advertising and Business 686 3712 Classilled Advertising 686 4343 Letter Perfect Graphics 686 5511 Production 686 4381 Circulation 686 5511 Editor Managing Editor News Editor Editorial Page Editora Sports Editor Photo Editor Graphic Design Editor Special Issues Editor Entertainment Sports Segment Editor Night Editor Stanley Nelson Scott Maben Eden God bey Angela Muniz'Steven Hoemsch Aaron Knox Shu-Shing Chen Lorraine Rath Kelly Kortekaas H C Hutto Andrew LaMar Associate Editors Community Stephen Maher Higher Education 'Administration Michael Drummond Student Government Activities Carolyn Lamberson General Assignment 'Entertainment Will Holbert Reporters Craig Harris. Gary Henley. Andrew LaMar. Jett Morgan. Ingrid Petersen. Cami Swanson. Kelvin Wee Photographers: Sherlyn Biorkgren. Christophs Chabaudie. Andy Cnpe. Clitt Etzel. John Giustina. Bobbie Lo. Gregor Okorn. Andre Raniert. Ted Shepler. Michael Templeton. Dan Wheeler Production: Sandra Daller / Ad Coordinator Kelly Alexandre. Ronwln Nicole Ashton. Virginia Baniaga, Laura Carhart. Eva Cohen. Stephanie Drynan. Dolores Per rero. Shannon Gaither. Lisa Haggerty. Stephanie Holland. Deirdre Kelly. Eliot Knight. Chris Knox. Jung Lee. Bobbie Lo. James Mason. Angie Muntz. Ted Shepler. Linda Sped mg. Lisa Svanevik. Ingrid White Kelly Williams. Serena Williams. X Kang Xle GALA, Men Against Rape. and. say. the sociology department, just for good measure. Hut I really don't take myself that seriously. I believe that people have a right to express their opi nions. I intend to express mine. Ko|w 'n' ride! lerame Berryhill Graduate student, physics Cinema stop Closing Cinema 7 was a very difficult decision to make. I believe in the arts and the art in cinema. Cinema 7 was dedicated to the arts and equal ly dedicated to the politics of human rights. What glorious cinema has shown at Cinema 7 over the last 13 years Our priority has been to provide Eugeneans with the current state of-world cinema and a showcase for films that rarely show outside major American cities This certainly will be missed I also will miss the opportuni ty to provide the Cinema as a meeting place for Eugene's many human rights organiza tions Half the struggle for human rights is simply to in form the citizens In our com munity of our responsibilities to humankind. To those individuals and organizations who participated and supported Cinema 7, thank you. Over the years Cinema 7 has become somewhat of an institu tion and with that arose an assumption that Cinema 7 would "always be around." Those assumptions, however well intended, cannot support the financial realities that an in dependent arts business must face every day. I have intensely worked since 1984 to grow with Cinema 7 in Eugene. I have invested thousands of hours in negotia tions with over eight locations in downtown, and it still seems to me in 1987 that Eugene's business climate is not respon sive to the business of art Cinema 7 joins the ranks of Starfiower. Northwest Working Press. The Truck Shop. The Zoo and a myriad of other small businesses that were once a vital part of Eugene and are no more. Again I thank all of you who have made cinema and the years of Cinema 7 so fun, exciting and rewarding Stephen Bove Owner, Cinema 7 Get it right Murray for Stan Vernooy! Mis letter of Oct. 30 eloquently presented some important facts about this newspaper. The Kmerald takes news, letters, and even ads. decomposes them, and then spits them back at us in forms so confused that often all we can do is laugh. We cer tainly can't make sense of them much of the time. I would offer my own ex amples. but I’m afraid I haven't kept them: I usually just laugh and toss the paper into the nearest recycling bin. Vernooy has given us a few goodies from the Oct. 22 issue; equally h u m o rou s ones can be discovered every day. Ah. here's a cute one in this very issue (Oct. 30): ''the library housed its' volumes.” That poor writer (or typesetter) knew there was something special about the third person singular neuter possessive, but she just couldn't remember w hat it was! Now. sure, there are more im portant c riteria for pood writing than spelling "its" correctly — vastly more important. The quality of writing in the Emerald. however, is often so poor that the meaning is lost completely. That's pretty serious. Putting the right word in the right place — and the right sentence, right paragraph likewise — sure would help. Addendum. Nov. 2 — Why is there not a single word or pic ture in today's issue about the NASU fall Pow-Wow which took place last Saturday night in the EMU ballroom? 1 guess fral kids in diapers are more impor tant to the Emerald than the bi annual gathering of University Native American students.
