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.
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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
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by the Oregon Dally Emerald Publishing Co . at the
University of Oregon, Eugene. Oregon. 97403
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and is a member ol the Aasociated Press
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or use ol papers is prosecutable by law
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Production Manager Michele Ross
Classified Manager Kelli Mason
Assistant to the Publisher Jean Ownbey
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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.
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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.