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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2018
editor@dailyastorian.com
KARI BORGEN
Publisher
JIM VAN NOSTRAND
Editor
Founded in 1873
JEREMY FELDMAN
Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM
Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN
Production Manager
CARL EARL
Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
America is headed toward legal pot
A
s President Donald Trump
mulls his next choice for U.S.
attorney general, we hope he
chooses someone with a realistic view
of legalized marijuana in Oregon and
other states.
Billy Williams, the U.S. attorney for
Oregon, will be a key player in the attor-
ney general’s future decisions. Williams
will chair the Attorney General’s
Marijuana Working Group. His appoint-
ment was announced by Deputy
Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on
the same day that Trump ousted Jeff
Sessions as attorney general.
Although it’s not why Trump dumped
him, Sessions vehemently opposed
marijuana use. Marijuana remains ille-
gal under federal law, but the Obama
administration had told federal agencies
to back off enforcement in states that
legalized its use. Sessions rescinded that
directive.
Sessions is now gone, recreational
use of marijuana has been legalized in
10 states and medical marijuana in 33
states, and Trump has signaled he might
support lighter federal enforcement.
Williams has been a vocal critic of
Oregon’s approach to legal cannabis.
His office has prosecuted people who
tried to ship marijuana out of Oregon,
which is illegal under state law as well
as federal law. He criticizes Oregon’s
oversupply of legal marijuana, which he
contends has re-fueled the black mar-
ket. He says the state’s cannabis reg-
ulations and recordkeeping have been
inadequate.
His concerns are legitimate. But, like
it or not, legal marijuana is a reality and
it is past time for the U.S. Department
of Justice to recognize that.
It is ludicrous that the federal gov-
ernment still classifies marijuana in the
same category of dangerous drugs as
heroin and LSD, and that Congress has
been loath to support federal research
into the medicinal uses of cannabis.
It is disruptive to the economy that
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Containers filled with marijuana at Sweet Relief in Astoria.
federal law blocks legal cannabis busi-
nesses in Oregon and other states from
many of the banks, credit-card process-
ing and other financial avenues that
other legitimate businesses use. For
financial institutions that do handle mar-
ijuana accounts, the resulting paperwork
can be almost prohibitively expensive.
Cannabis remains largely a cash-and-
carry business — from buyer purchases
to payment of taxes — and those large
amounts of cash make businesses and
tax collectors a target for thieves. Other
businesses also are wary of working
with cannabis firms for fear that federal
law enforcement will prosecute them
for “aiding, abetting and conspiring” in
marijuana activities.
The cannabis industry in Oregon is
maturing. Because the market is satu-
rated with cannabis and shops selling
it, prices have fallen by half — or more
— and outlets gradually are consolidat-
ing. Business experts say these consol-
idations are necessary if local owner-
ship is to remain viable when marijuana
is legalized nationally and tobacco firms
and other multinational corporations
jump into the market.
America is headed that way. Almost
two-thirds of Americans support legaliz-
ing marijuana.
In the Nov. 6 election, the rural
Oregon towns of Ontario, Joseph,
Water
under
the bridge
commerce manager, the Adrians came to Astoria via the north
side of the Columbia River. Here they visited Fort Clatsop
and were to go on to Seaside to see the salt cairn and to Can-
non Beach, where a whale came ashore in Lewis and Clark’s
day.
Construction West Ltd. began hauling sand and
base rock to the Northwest Aluminum company
plant site so grading work can continue despite wet
weather.
Temporary roads will be put in so that dump
trucks can haul dirt across the slippery clay of the
200-acre cleared area.
Compiled by Bob Duke
From the pages of Astoria’s daily newspapers
10 years ago
this week — 2008
75 years ago — 1943
North Coast football fans will stage an invasion of Hill-
sboro later this week, as two of its teams did it again —
advanced another round in the state playoffs.
The Astoria Fishermen will play Friday to get into a state
championship; the Knappa Loggers will play in one Saturday.
Astoria demolished North Bend 46-7 Friday at John War-
ren Stadium, as quarterback Jordan Poyer ran for four touch-
downs in his final appearance on Gyro Field.
1969 — Starting the job together Monday were Mrs.
Judith Thomason, meter maid, and a brand new gas-
oline-driven cart acquired by the city of Astoria for
$1,844.55 to replace a worn-out electric cart.
A Tillamook man was shot in the legs and but-
tocks when his 12-gauge shotgun accidentally dis-
charged during a duck-hunting trip on Tillamook
Bay.
The Oregon State Police says the man’s dog is
the prime suspect.
Sgt. Todd Hoodenpyl says 23-year-old Matthew
Markum and his 20-year-old brother were using
an 11-foot aluminum boat to go from land to their
decoys Saturday morning. When the men left the
boat, a shotgun blast put a hole in the side of the
boat before striking Markum’s leg.
Markum’s father, Henry Markum, confirmed
that the dog, whose name is Drake, jumped into the
boat, setting off the 12-guage.
Henry Marcum said neither he nor Matthew are
mad at their pet. He added that Drake is a good dog
and the shooting is “just one of those things.”
Hoodenpyl noticed while securing the shotgun
that the safety was in the off position, something
which is an important reminder to anyone trans-
porting or carrying a loaded weapon.
A three-alarm fire in downtown Astoria killed
a man and wiped out half a city block Thanksgiv-
ing night. A large turnout of firefighters fought the
blaze — and the fire chief’s decision to call for extra
help right away may have saved other buildings.
The windows of the former flower shop at 951
Commercial Street were black and hot, and smoke
was coming up from the building when Astoria
Fire and Rescue arrived on the scene at 10:48 p.m.
Thursday. Officials immediately called for a “two
alarm.”
Forget the Prom or the cute shops on Broadway. No need
to head to the mall or the video store. The cove? Who cares?
Seaside’s new library is the hottest destination in town.
Klamath Falls, Gates, Sumpter and
Clatskanie either rejected or rescinded
prohibitions against selling recreational
marijuana. Numerous other cities and
counties voted to tax marijuana sales.
Nationally, Michigan became the first
Midwestern state to legalize recreational
marijuana. In the South, Missouri
approved medical marijuana.
Dozens of pot bills will be introduced
in Congress next year, some with bipar-
tisan support. During the next decade,
the overwhelming majority of states are
projected to have some form of legal-
ized marijuana.
Yet the U.S. Department of Justice
remains woefully behind the times.
And for Library Director Reita Fackerell, that’s cool.
The library has been open only two months, and already
the circulation and visitation figures are out of sight.
50 years ago — 1968
After the Lewis and Clark expedition returned from the
unknown far west in 1806, Capt. William Clark made his
home in St. Louis, where he became territorial governor,
commander of the armed forces and superintendent of Indian
affairs.
The Clark family has remained in St. Louis ever since, and
this week Capt. Clark’s great-great grandson, William Clark
Adrian, came west to see the scenes of his famous ancestor’s
exploits on the Pacific seaboard.
Escorted by James Thomson, superintendent of Fort Clat-
sop National Memorial park, and Jean Hallaux, chamber of
An on-the-spot KAST broadcast from the lobby of the
Astoria USO against a background of subdued hubbub, will
come directly to the homes of this area tonight between 8 and
8:30 p.m.
On its regular nightly radio hour, War Chest Inc. will thus
feature its main beneficiary — the USO — which will receive
$11,373.13 from Clatsop County’s War Chest fund. And the
beneficiary will furnish the atmosphere — the real-life hum
of a busy servicemen’s center — happy chatter, clink of soda
fountain glasses, rustle of newspapers and magazines, possi-
bly even the click of typewriter as a serviceman composes a
letter home.
This direct broadcast from the lobby of the USO will
introduce servicemen who have found friendly association
and realization in the USO — Astoria’s and others — and
will feature a message from Lt. Goodenau for the naval sta-
tion, port docks, giving the welfare officer’s point of view.
Astorians were shivering Tuesday and Wednes-
day mornings and rightly so, for official records at
the Astor experiment station reveal that the mer-
cury skidded to 29 degrees on both mornings. This
was the first killing frost of the year.
The Clatsop post of the American Legion purchased the
large building formerly occupied by the Montgomery Ward
store on Exchange Street for $13,500, and announced it
would be made into a new “home” for the Legion after the
war.
Kenneth “Kiki” Simonson, former Astoria High
School athlete, returned here this week for a brief
furlough, during which he will marry Miss Pat
Foote this weekend before returning to Pensacola,
Fla., to instruct in marine aviation.