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CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
New bill hardly equals the crime
■ OUR OPINION:
A state proposal
seeking to
criminalize the
possession of
marijuana should
go up in smoke
The Oregon House of
Representatives wants
you to know it’s taken a
firm stand against that
drug of death, that near-narcot
ic, that wily weed — marijua
na.
But actually, what it has real
ly done is make a purely sym
bolic statement that will place
undue restraints on an unde
serving group of people and ul
timately, cause more harm than
good.
The House just passed a bill
that will “recriminalize” the
possession of small amounts of
marijuana. If the bill passes
through the Senate and be
comes law, anyone caught with
less than an ounce of the drug
will be charged with a Class C
misdemeanor.
This means any young per
son or other casual user out for
a short high could be thrown in
jail just for holding a joint.
Yikes!
A regression seems to be tak
ing place here. Back in 1973,
Oregon was the first state in the
union to decriminalize mari
juana. Why the change of
heart? Well, many representa
tives say today’s marijuana is
much stronger than the weed of
the trippin’ ‘60s and ‘70s.
Therefore, it should be ranked
with more “powerful” drugs,
presumably like LSD and
crack.
This is where the bill’s first
problem becomes apparent. In
deed, today’s street marijuana
is stronger than its predecessor
and is obviously not necessari
ly good for one who uses it. But
it can hardly be ranked with
more potent drugs. A signifi
cant difference in physiological
effects, and therefore addic
tion, still clearly exists between
cocaine, for example, and mari
juana.
Furthermore, the bill is un
justly cruel to a primarily
young group of users. Should
an 18-year-old girl, for exam
ple, be subject to a permanent
mark on her record just for be
ing caught with a joint? We
don’t think so. Young people
could have trouble finding jobs
in the future or even staying in
school with such a strong so
cial stigma as a criminal
record.
Also, the bill is terribly im
practical. Even the people en
forcing the law can see this.
Some policemen in Portland,
for example, say they may not
even seek jail time for people
they catch breaking the law.
And if they do choose to en
force the law, already over
crowded jails could see an in
flux of new inmates — inmates
that had done nothing more
than hold a joint.
A glaringly unbalanced im
age comes through in all this
hoopla. Should marijuana
users — not dealers, not pro
ducers — be held in the same
regard as burglars and other
criminals? Of course not, but
with this law, they will be.
Instead, if we must fight mar
ijuana use, let’s increase the
fine already in place for posses
sion. Perhaps a monetary pun
ishment would persuade users
to curb their behavior. We sure
know putting them in prison
won’t help anything.
This editorial represents the
opinion of the Emerald editori
al board.
Quoted
“We’re screwed,
we’re screwed!”
Peruvian rebel
leader Nestor
Corps's reported
last words as
commandos
stormed the
Japanese
embassy in Lima
that his group
had taken under
siege.
“You pat him on
the back and say I
congratulations
and enjoy it, and
tell him not to
serve fried
chicken next
year...or collard
greens, or
whatever the hell
they serve."
Golfer Fuzzy
Zoeller, referring
to Masters
champion Tiger j
Woods. Zoeller j
apologized to \
Woods but later \
claimed he was j
misquoted, j
“I feel very
fortunate. My
three children are
safe. The rest is
just stuff."
Grand Forks, I
North Dak. \
resident Paula
Haney, after her j
house was :
overrun by flood j
waters, as quoted j
in Newsweek, j
“I never lose. I
have never lost in
my life.”
Chess champion \
Garry Kasparov, j
being interviewed j
for his upcoming 1
series of matches I
against Deep
Blue, an IBM j
supercomputer, j
The series is tied
1-1. i
LETTERS
Musical sacrifice
I was appalled at the mindless
ness of Corey Johnson’s letter,
“Disappointing endorsement,”
printed on April 17, regarding for
mer ASUO executive candidates
James Boyd and Andrew Oberriter.
Corey, in pointing out that the
Emerald represents “racial insensi
tivity” and “conservative voices
that are grossly out of touch with
student opinion,” you certainly
did not represent yourself in a way
that could set a good example,
since you are somehow out of
touch with my student opinion, for
one, and perhaps many others who
happen to know James Boyd and
Andrew Oberriter personally.
Like Boyd, I am studying music.
We are colleagues, both having
been through many of the same
O /~v_ _
things a music major faces. It takes
willpower, dedication and courage
to pursue a career in music. Liter
ally, it takes blood, sweat and tears.
It is not a field for the “frail ego.”
I agree with your suggestion for
the editorial board to “start getting
in touch with the students on this
campus.” But have you ever even
had a friendly conversation with
James and Andrew? Did it ever oc
cur to you that perhaps these two
people are for real and not interest
ed in political slash and burn tac
tics? Why else would someone like
James come back after his so-called
“frail” ego was destroyed to coura
geously run for a higher position?
Dealing with scathing editorials is
willful enough.
Lara Daskivich
Music Education
Parking solution
During the recent ASUO elec
tions, we heard a lot of talk about
the University’s parking shortage,
but few viable solutions. I think
that the best way to solve the prob
lem is to look at it from a fresh per
spective. How about instead of a
“parking shortage,” we simply ac
knowledge that what we actually
have is a “car surplus.”
So how do we go about getting
rid of all these surplus cars? Just
suggesting alternative forms of
transportation hasn’t helped. Even
funding alternative forms hasn’t
worked. Eugene is not only walka
ble and bike-friendly, but our inci
dental fees already pay for unlim
ited access to ride the bus.
The University can’t keep peo
ple from driving to school... or can
it? What if the people who are dri
ving to school just weren’t stu
dents? Just expel people who drive
to school? That’s crazy! These are
our future leaders ... or are they?
Anyone who has taken classes in
finance, accounting or economics
and actually thinks it is economi
cal to drive a car to school rather
than walk, bike or take the bus for
free, is not applying their educa
tion.
But why stop with business ma
jors? How about environmental
studies majors who drive to
school? All of their classes on pro
tecting the environment haven’t af
fected how they treat it. Or exercise
& movement majors? Don’t they
know how much better walking
and biking is for you?
Most of all, how can we forgive
the history, architecture, planning
& public policy and geography ma
jors who drive to school? Haven’t
they learned that cars have taken
over and destroyed our landscape?
Don’t they know that only places
that were well in place before the
invention of cars are memorable or
even worth living in?
I’m positive that there are several
other well educated students who
drive to school despite what their
studies, or even simple logic,
should make clear. The University
should probably expel them too.
So with all of these cars and peo
ple off-campus, we would proba
bly have a parking surplus. The
problem is solved, and we can re
claim all of that wasted land to find
an appropriate use for it.
Robert Nobles
Architecture