EDITORIAL
Clinic merger deal
limits care options
When doctors with Eugene Clink voted to merge with
iV.iceHe.dth, the corporation that owns Sat red Heart
Medical Center, tale lest week, they did so for their
mutual benefit. However, their patients may be the tines
to suffer, as medical options and the diversity of med
ical providers become fewer in the near future,
While not immediately threatening, it ts troubling to
sue that, one by one, doctors and medical prat tir es in
Eugene are al! slowly bet tuning part of the same organi
zation, lust in March. 52 doctors from the Oregon M<-d
it al Group decided not to merge with Peart-Health. How
over, wmi ione. economic
circumstances may dictate
iiitin* mergers,
Peat oHoaltii may one day
have a near-medical monop
oly over hugeno.
It's true that integrating
the ivugone Clinic into
Peat olioalth will have bene
fits As part of a larger orga
nization, doctors will bo
Tlh merger m ill
ma.it likely have
benefits far dorian
ami /Vat ellealth.
bm the prognosis for
fmtients is Mill
mu main
able to work more effectively with each other to help
■ and will lave i>
itl their disposal. It may also help to lower costs for
patients.
However, potential drawbacks remain. As a Catholic
hospital and health system, Sat red Heart prohibits cer
tain nicil a at | in i< i ■ i i u! i • s hum iak mg pl.u e within the
hospital, such as abortion and ariilit i.d insemination
With the Eugene Clinic becoming part of the Peace
Health system, many have stated that these procedures
will now he unavailable from the Eugene Clinic doctors
It is w«U wdhin tin* rights of Peacellealth, as a free
c orporation, to determine what medical procedures will
or will not be* permitted inside its buildings Peace!health
shouldn't bo fore ed to allow abortions to lake plat •• with
in its facilities.
Unfortunately. the fact is that fewer options will be
available to patients seeking an abortion or artific ial
insemination. As would be expected with a monopoly,
options tor health cure are (recoining fewer and contro
versial procedures will bec ome unavailable, While
Sac red Heart Medic nl Center and its affiliated organiza
tions are ext client medical institutions, a variety of med
ical groups are needed to fully serve the needs of the
Kugune-Springfiuid community.
Like it or not. Peacoliealth, with its local affiliate
Sac red Heart Medical Center, is becoming the main med
ical provider for Eugene. Unfortunately, the Eugene Clin
ic \ merger will come with disadvantages for patients
While certain medical procedures will become less
available with the merger, Eugene residents will find
wavs to get tiie medical services that they need and
desire with some work and a bit of patience.
The merger will most likely have benefits for doctors
and Peaceflealth, but the prognosis for patients is still
uncertain For now, patients will just have to learn to
live with the shrinking health care options in Eugene.
Oregon Daily
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-Equal jufna?”
THAT’S A-HOTHfcP
QUOIA^
■ OPINION
Hemp legalization going to pot
Kkivn UpmUK
#r'n""\r«>):,,!l is kcmwn lor its i»*f(
is! wavs. I fiim .1 ballot
tors to kill their patients to tost
ing tht* abortion pill, it's no sis ret
where we often stand
In the tradition of non right
ways, some in this state are
pushing lor the legalization of
something that grows under
the right lighting and out of
the eyes of law enforcement.
This, of course, is none oth
er than hemp.
The stuff that future former
presidents and current former
Supreme Court nominees
sucked up (Sorry. I don't buy
the inhale line.)
If you listen to the propo
nents of the legalization of the
stuff, you'd think hemp was
the i ure all to any ail society
might even think il has.
That's right folks Hemp c an
can cure brain tumors, sick
le cell anemia, the common
cold and ear wax build-up.
You could also build tanks,
construct stealth bombers and
reconstruct the Eiffel Tower
if you had to with cannabis
plants.
The stuff could fix our
economy, end poverty and
bring peace on Earth.
Obviously. I’m kidding
about the economy.
But those in favor of weed
decriminalization would have
us believe that the hemp seed
is the "most nutritionally
complete food source on
Earth.”
Yet even if this were true,
my response would be, so
what?
The biggest problem we
should have with the stuff is
the message it sends out when
we start talking of legalizing
.1 dn it:
The generation that raised
the one I'm a part of was ven
much a user of pot As men
tioned before, even our Pres
ident did. Pot was a drug that
gained widespread accep
tance
This casual relationship
with the drug has given rise
to these ideas of legalization
beyond just a few users.
I bugs, in < use we've for
gotten, art? the s< ourge uf six i
ety. The effects they've had on
America can be characterized
as nothing less than tragic. A
foreign power«Quid not equal
some of the horrors that have
been wrought here in the
United States
Reckoning Drugs, the
Cities, aiu] the American
Future by Elliott Currie
points out, "The drug crisis
is responsible for most of the
rise in AIDS among children
in the entire industrial
world. In a:t pen ent of pedi
atric AIDS cases by the end
of 1990. the children had
contracted the disease from
their mothers — most of
whom had been infected
through IV drug users "
The book points out how
drugs contribute to youth
delinquency. It cites a study
among low-income delin
quent youths in Miami.
Ninety-two percent of the
Hispanic delinquents. 88
percent of the black delin
quents and 77 pe: ant of the
white delinquents reported
having berm regular users of
crack cocaine at some point.
More than one-fourth of the
white users said they had
used crack daily over the
past 90 days.
1 could go on. But most of
us should know why drugs
are not good, to understate.
And, drugs Include grass,
mv friends.
I can understand how some
resent having a reefer lumped
in with drugs such as cocaine
or heroin.
M.u i|u.in.t (iut’Mi'! have th«*
same potency that these drugs
have. But they still do have
some of the side effects that a
drug does such as memory
impairment and may produce
hallucinations, according to
the book Drugs, Society and
Human Behavior by Kay Oak
ley and Cltarles ksir.
But what kind of message
does it send to have the stuff
legalized? kids who have
heard nothing but “Just say
no,” now can say "Just say
maybe."
If we're talking about legal
izing Mary Jane now. what
will it be in 25 years? LSD?
PGP? And will we be looking
to cocaine and heroin as pos
sible options then? Will we.
by then, have some new
designer drugs so potent that
they will pale in comparison?
The point is that just
because bud doesn't seem that
bad when compared to other
drugs, it doesn't mean we
should just up and legalize it.
The most prevalent drug in
today's society is alcohol.
Alcohol ravages this country
in the way of drunk driving
and abuse in homes among
other travesties it produces. It
could probably be classified
as more harmful than dope.
But because it is so ingrained
in our society, outlawing it
causes some of the problems
we had in the earlier part of
this century during prohibi
tion.
Because marijuana use is
still not ingrained in society,
we should keep it that way
Legalizing it would not help
that problem
Finally, it should be reiter
ated that legalizing herbs will
likely put us on a slippery
slope toward more drug legal
ization.
Knowing drugs' travesties,
none of us should want that
— no matter what state we
live in.
Brian Womack is a columnist for
the Emerald