The Clackamas print. (Oregon City, Oregon) 1989-2019, January 23, 2002, Image 1

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    ~CL ac I< amas F^ ìnt
NEW...... http://depts.clackamas.cc.or.us/print
/èdnesday January 23, 2002
Clackamas Community College
Volume XXXVII, Issue
Oregon City, Oregon
Local doctor supports puffing for pain
MAGGIE JIRASEK
Editor-in-Chief
Dr. Phillip Leveque, a
78 year-old Molalla osteo­
path who signed about 40
percent of the approved
marijuana cards in Oregon,
spoke at Clackamas last Fri­
day, Jan. 18. He encouraged
students and faculty to favor
the use of marijuana for
medical purposes.
“I am in total favor of
smoking marijuana for
medical purposes,” Leveque
announced at the meeting.
Currently, Leveque is
under investigation by the
Board of Medical Examiners
for allegedly authorizing pa­
tients to receive medical
marijuana without examin­
ing them. Under the new
rules proposed by the state
last summer, a physician is
required to review the
patient’.s medical record, ex­
amine the patient and keep
a written file.
According to The Or­
egonian, 2,351 Oregonians
have received cards allow­
ing them to grow and use
marijuana for medical pur­
poses since Oregon voters
approved the Medical Mari­
juana Act in 1998. Leveque agrees that smoking mari­
himself signed over 1,000 of juana helps a lot when it
comes to dealing with his dis­
these cards.
“I do not use marijuana ease.
“It helps to ease the
myself, although I would
qualify easily. I don’t want pain. If I don’t smoke, I lose
people to think that this is a lot of weight because I
lose my ap­
just a way
petite,” he
for me to
get mari­
said. “If I
juana for
don’t smoke,
Marijuana has
I just can’t
my own
eat.
It’s hard
purposes,”
not killed any-
for me to
he
ex­
body, ever.
keep my food
plained.
Dr. Phillip
down. Before
leveque
Leveque
I
started
presented
osteopath
smoking, I
several rea­
was losing a
sons why
lot of weight.
the
U.S.
I was only 99 ,
government
should legalize marijuana pounds. Then I started
and make it available in phar­ smoking and I gained a lot
macies and liquor stores as of my weight back. I have
well as pointed out some of been smoking marijuana
the disadvantages.
for 18 years now.”
According to Leveque,
“Marijuana is a great
medicine for people who the U.S. government would
have AIDS, any kind of can­ benefit from legalizing the
cer, epilepsy, migraines, drug.
“If the government le­
Alzheimer and suffer under
severe pain,” Leveque said. galized it, it would bring in
“It works very well to elimi­ about $20 million, just like
nate the pain. Marijuana has tobacco.”
After stressing the
not killed anybody, ever.”
Wilkerson Beeks, an positive side of using mari­
AIDS patient from Mollala, juana for medical purposes,
should be used for
Leveque admitted that
medical purposes
there are disadvan­
but the whole pro­
tages. A great concern
cess has to be
in the audience was
regulated very
that people could
carefully.”
abuse the drug and not
only use it for medical
purposes but also for
their own pleasure, j
Another concert
was that it takes
away the ability
to concentrate
and a short-
t e r m
memory
d e v e 1 -
ops.
" I
do recognize that this
is a severe problem,
that’s all I can say to
that,” Leveque stated
E 1 i s s a
McGarry, tri-city al­
ternative program
secretary
at
Clackamas who at­
tended Friday's
meeting, says she
agrees with Leveque that
using marijuana under the
right circumstances can be Dr. Phillip Leveque spoke to
a good thing.
. students and faculty about
“Leveque brought the issue of using
up a lot of good points,” marijuana for medical
McGarry said. "I think it purposes last Friday.
Clackamas prepares for budget ax
FRANK JORDAN
News Editor
The second of two in­
formational budget forums
for the staff of Clackamas
Community College was
held last week in the Com­
munity Center.
Dr. Earl P. “Joe”
Johnson, president of the
college, and Associate
Dean Roxie Hobart, col­
lege controller, stood be­
fore a group of about 50
people and outlined what
they believed the.Oregon
What's Inside?
Opinión...Page 2
News...Pages 3-4
Feature..Jiages 5-6
A & E..J*ages 7-9
Sports. ..Pages 10-11
The End...Page 12
State Legislature would do
as far as community college
funding
and
how
Clackamas would deal with
the projected shortfall.
The proposed state
budget for community col­
leges calls for an eight- per­
cent reduction in funding
for the 2002-03 school
year. Clackamas has taken
these figures and is at­
tempting to come up with a
budget plan to help, as
President Johnson said it,
“soften the blow that will
come down upon us.”
Clackamas Commu­
nity College is looking at
a $700,000 deficit for the
next school year. Other
community colleges in the
state are looking at any­
thing from salary rollbacks
in their staffing to tuition
increases. For example,
Chemeketa Community
College in Salem is look­
ing at increasing tuition
immediately by $4 a credit
hour.
Clackamas is also
planning a tuition increase,
but right now it would be
only $1 per credit hour. A
suggestion on the table
does call for a $2 increase
per credit hour, but right
now that is only a sugges­
tion.
For the 2001-03 bud­
get biennium, Clackamas
was budgeted by the state
to receive close to $32.8
million. The college at the
time was anticipating a bud­
get reduction and chose to
receive only $32.1 million
from the state, a two- per­
cent reduction. The col­
lege is anticipating having
its money reduced by a to­
tal of five to six percent
when the legislature meets
in special session next
month in Salem.
Clackamas is much
better off than other com­
munity colleges in the re­
gion. The college has fore-
seen some of what lies
ahead and has tried to make
budget reductions over the
past several years to help
save money and build up its
contingency fund. This,
MIKE POLLOCK / Clackamas Print
Associate Dean Roxie Hobart discusses the possibilities
of budget cuts for Clackamas at the budget forumheld
Jan. 16, 17.
and a significant increase in
enrollment over the past year
plus some increases in prop­
erty tax revenue, has helped
to cushion the blow that the
college could receive from the
state.
President Johnson ex­
plained some of what has been
taking place on the state level
over the last several months,
and he anticipates.
See Budget, page 3
10