Street roots., August 16, 2013, Page 5, Image 5

I
Street roots
Aug. 16, 2013
POT fro m page 4
are laying off deputies and closing jail beds.
They are talking about being fiscally
responsible elected officials, and this is one
of the issues that begs the question, is fiscal
responsibility more important-than a failed
drug war?
I f you look at It from a
staters rights point ol wlew?
from a homeland security
and drag war point of
from an economic point of
from In d iv id u a l
responsibility and c iv il
liberties point of vlew^ these
are m ajor planks of the
Republican Party platform , 1
th in k more Repnblieans are
connecting themselves w ith
this issue and portraying
themselves as this being an
they ©an lead on,"
J.T.: In 2014, there’s
likely to be a question
regarding gay marriage
on the Oregon ballot. In
Washington, in 2012,
there were also questions
regarding both gay
marriage and
marijuana. I ’m
wondering i f you think
that there is any link
between these two issues
socially or politically,
and i f turnout for one
issue might help with
turnout for the other.
R .K .: I think that
there is a strong
correlation between
the issues of marriage
equality and the issues
of regulating marijuana.
If you look at it in terms of turnout or
crossover of who is going to support those
issues, it tends to be moderates,
progressives, young voters and libertarian-
minded voters. The midterm elections and
non-presidential elections tend to be really
suboptimal for marijuana-related initiatives
because younger voters tend to come out for
the presidential election but sit out the
midterm election, and that’s a real concern
for people trying to get a real critical
millennial voice on the issue. In Oregon,
when you have an organization like Basic
Rights Oregon that says they’ll put the issue
on the ballot and then raise millions of
dollars to get out the vote, that’s a huge
opportunity for the marijuana policy
movement to leverage that energy and
activism.
Homeless ol’ fool
J.T.: Sanjay Gupta, C N N ’s chief medical
correspondent, had a turnaround on
marijuana in a documentary he did for the
network. How big a deal is that?
if you’re dying
die comfortable
by Jay T h ie m e y e r
harmless ol’ fool
took my fiver
for cigarettes
R .K .: I think that; legitimately, that’s a big
deal. H e’s a highly respected national and
international voice. I’m not fixated on how
many people watch CN N or the special he
did. But I watched the program last night,
and I have been following his evolution on
the issue in the past few months. It’s a big
deal because the concerns that voters might
have, a good portion of the voters, especially
over the age of 50, are still operating under
the framework where “Reefer Madness” is a
point of reference, and not an ironic or pop
culture point of reference. These are people
who grew up hearing about Reefer Madness
and raised kids or went to college during
Nixon’s drug war or Reagan’s escalation of
the drug war. So there’s a lot of
misinformation to deconstruct and a lot of
new information that needs to be provided.
To have a respected physician and scientist
say, “I was wrong. I was part of the problem
and I have to apologize for being part of the
problem as an educated member of society
and a physician.”
That’s why I think it’s a big deal. The
documentary is good, but the big deal was
that a very respected and respectable
medical professional apologized for his past
view.
I am your friend old man
could be there
but I’m not
where do we go from here?
I’ll see you at the Tenner
when you wander in to talk
about the early days
for us cretins, us simpletons, Christians
when it was about
things
unlike today
when people mattered
and money
was not even in
the picture.
It took a world
away-
money. Take it
from me.
So where ya goin ol’ man?
cigarettes.
..
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