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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (May 10, 1995)
EDITORIAL Skipworth facility needs replacement Crime is always a hot-button issue when the public wants more police, and politicians clamor for more prison space. However, citizens rarely have the oppor tunity to vote to help treat juvenile crime before it laKomes more serious adult offenses Voters are being asked to approve a $39 million bond measure to make improvements to the Skipworth Juve nile Detention Center. Whether it's a leaking roof or asbestos contained in the building, it's clear that the current facility is inade quate. Maintenance of the facility alone consumes a sub stantial portion of the operating budget. in addition, the design of the building itself isn't con ducive to helping offenders. Staff spend time escorting residents to communal bathrooms, while the maximum security rooms are on the opposite end of the facility from the staff control room. Clearly, security and reha bilitation aren't helped any by the current Skipworth. When the building is falling apart and the design alone causes security problems, it would seem that rehabilitating the youth housed at (tie fat ility would become a second priority. it's time for a new juvenile justu'e t enter it's time to replace Skipworth. Ballot Measure 20-48 would allow a bond sale, which would finance the construction of a now juvenile justice center. The new facility would nearly triple the capaci ty of the current detention center, with each room equipped with a sink and toilet, eliminating the need for the < urrent < ommunal bathrooms The increased capacity of the new facility would ensure that more juveniles can be prosecuted and treat ed in the facility. As it stands now. there isn’t space for everyone at Skipworth who commits a serious crime. For example, theft cases of less than $750 haven’t been prosecuted, but are instead treated with letters to their parents. Increased detention capacity at Skipworth will increase the capability of law enforcement to prosecute and help juveniles who have problems with the law Rebuilding Skipworth will not come without cost. The bond would cost the average taxpayer about S25.70 a year for the owner of a $100,000 home. While taxpay ers are being asked to pay now for juvenile corrections, it is much loss expensive than the possibility of having to lock up adults in prison for longer periods of time. in addition, it's better to treat juvenile crime early to ensure that children don’t become repeat offenders. Skipworth helps to treat many kinds of juvenile crime, allowing minors who have strayed from accepted soci etal norms of legal activity to live a life as productive cit izens. Vote yes for ballot Measure 20-48 With help from the community. Skipworth can be replaced with a larger and more adequate fat ility that would help combat the problem of juvenile crime in Lane County. 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OV/NO Oh ^\eeaia Vfc-V-V He DOCTtjUS owu/vjwt^ t canrot Bear it The ftjn 15_ i I**® 1 £>»»f >♦ ueui ar»d Suffering Award Debate ouch MqAa/ //ri w A&iilL ■ LETTERS Ignorance As ho regurgitate* the misin formation o( cannabis teeto talers, Brian Wont at k demon sirates his ignorance on yet another subjot t {ODi May ~i Womack's main argument against decriminalizing cannabis possession is that it will lead to more hard-core drug use and legalization Why then does the Netherlands, where < annobis is legal to possess, have among the lowest rules of hard-core drug use of the west ern countries? By lumping cannabis with other drugs such as cocaine and heroin. Womack undermines ins own credibility Marijuana doesn't kill people Cos ante and heroin do Why should anyone believe Womack when he seems unable to make this important distinction? Womack's reluctance to accept the practicality of cannabis products also demon strates his shortsightedness Cannabis may or may not cure brain tumors, but it does pro duce a superior grade of paper that requires less water and nutrients than trees and the paper can be made from any one of several strains of cannabis plant that don't produce an intoxicating effect This is espe cially important to Oregon's nat ural resource-dependent econo my. Finally, Womack cites memo ry loss as a reason not to decrim inalize cannabis What about the loss of jail space it takes to imprison cannabis "offenders" or the loss of money and time it takes for the police to enforce cannabis laws? Cannabis possession should be decriminalized because cannabis is a beneficial product and making it illegal causes more problems than the plant itself Womack may call this a iilxiral view, but it is also a prac tical view. Even 1. who nave never even smoked a cigarette, can see that Sam Williams Pre-Business Administration Disservice I am writing to clear up any confusion the recent editorial entitled "Sobriety inquiries incriminate drivers" (Of)F, Mn\ 2) may have i a used Last week in State of Oregon v Fish, the Oregon Supreme Court ruled that a refusal to perform a field sobriety test could not be used as evidence against the refusing person in court because it vio lated the driver's privilege against self-incrimination under the Oregon Constitution. The (kiurt did not. as your editorial leads readers to believe, rule that refusals to take a breath test could not Ik* used in court pro ceedings Two kinds of sobriety tests exist, field sobriety tests and chemical tests that quantify blood-alcohol level Field sobri ety tests include walking a straight line and reciting the alphaiiet Chemical tests ini lude breath analysis and blood tests Chemical tests an* not field sohri etv tests As the name indicates, police officers conduct field sobriety tests in the field. Polic e or medical personnel conduct chemical tests at police stations, jails, or hospitals The editorial exchanges field sobriety tests with all sobriety tests The Fish decision only deals with field sobriety tests and the Oregon Constitution's privi lege against self-incrimination. You do your readers a great disserve e when you incorrec t ly editorialize alxnit On*gon crim inal law 1 find it difficult to believe that anybody who had read the opinion could come away with the understanding that all sobriety test refusals violated the Oregon Constitution. This assumes that the author of this i-iiitofi.il took the time to lot ate and read the opinion and did not simply rely on a handful of arti cles that appeared in newspapers across the state. In Oregon you may refuse to perform field sobriety tests with out later repercussion Refuse a c hemical lest at your own risk Michael A. Frome Law Uneducated As usual, Mr (Brian) Womack, has displayed his lack of insight and responsibility. In response to his article on hemp [ODE. May 2), I'd like to offer some clarification. f irst, hemp has teen used for thousands of years in thousands of cultures for myriad other uses than intoxication It has been only in the last 50 years in this country that hemp has teen pro hibited. thanks to Hearst in l‘K)7 (a media giant) with his "Cannabis Tax Act." Check your history books. Brian. Second, none of the examples Mr Womack gives of the horrors of drugs is caused by pot; they are caused by heroin and crack. As he says, pot isn't as strong It may only cause “memory impairment and hallucina tions." So do television and reli gious fervor. Furthermore, when one smokes pot. which is illegal, one gets stoned and hungry When one drinks NvQuil, which is legal, one passes out c old in a drunken stupor Which sounds healthier? Third. Mr Womac k is con cerned about the message we might send to the kids if we were to legalize a drug The gov ernment is currently administer ing marijuana to people who have illnesses with symptoms THC eliminates What kind of message does this send to kids or adults? But will ruin your life, unless you're ill. then it makes life tetter? I heartily agree- that there are serious questions that need answers regarding the new hemp initiative, such as how would it te regulated and will it bring in criminals from other states where hemp is still ille gal? Comparatively, Mr. Wom ack's column is uneducated and irresponsible. I suggest finding a conservative columnist with a more professional approach to argumentation Matthew Powell Anthropology
