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D i * * c T o »
Paul Neufeldt
C * c t T i » e
F. d i t o ! -i N -C H i e i . P v m s H r. *
The Portland Observer
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Established 1970
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4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King. Jr. Blvd.,
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Portland, OR 97211
luiy 09.2003
Charles H. Washington
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Kathy Linder
M ichael Leighton
l i i s r i u i i r i o s \l < e * a c *
M ark Washington
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Deadly Dangers in Your Medicine Cabinet
dose o f these medications, espec ial ly those
c o ld
re m e d ie s
c o n ta in in g
dextromethorphan, can cause elevated
body temperature and heart rates, a rise in
blood pressure, chemical imbalance, liver
Guard children
against overdose of
over-the-counter
drugs
by
can carry a box of cold medicine around
openly, unlike alcohol and marijuana.
When our children are young, we rou
tinely safeguard our homes with numer
ous locks and gates to block access and
* For parents and other caretakers,
keeping children safe from over-the-
counter drug abuse may be even more
challenging than preventing them from
using alcohol or abusing other substance.
B ob N ikkei .
Foryears, w e’ve been bombarded with
messages about how to keep our children
safe: Lock up the liquor and gun cabinets
and the cabinets with the cleaning sup
plies and other household poisons.
But what about the cabinet that holds
a seemingly innocent arsenal o f remedies
for the common cold or a cough?
The contents o f the family medicine
cabinet are proving to be dangerous. In
recent months, at least seven Oregon
youths have been hospitalized for over
dosing on over-the-counter medicines.
These children were not at a cIub or a rave
or other social gathering. In one incident,
they were in som eone’s home, alone and
in the other, on a break near school.
According to medical literature, an over-
damage, impairedjudgment, tremors, sei
zures and death.
For parents and other caretakers, keep
ing children safe from over-the-counter
drug abuse may be even more challenging
than preventing them from using alcohol
or abusing other substances.
The drugs our youth are turning to are
readily available, cheap and legal. Teens
entry. We can’t afford to assume that once
our children are older, they will be safe
from dangerous and deadly substances.
Anything can be toxic if you misuse it.
The availability o f over-the-counter
medicines, whi le convenient for consum
ers, is a challenge for parents. According
to the National Institute on Drug Abuse,
dextromethorphan is in more than 100 over
the-counter remedies. As parents and
caretakers o f young people, we must do
everything we can to keep them safe. I
encourage you to take inventory o f all
h o u se h o ld m e d ic in e c a b in e ts and
nightstands. Safeguard purses or other
items where medications may be stored.
Monitor the fam ily’s use o f over-the-
counter medicine and dispense medica
tion only as needed.
You should also talk to your children
about the dangers o f over-the-counter
drugs. Know where yourchildren are, who
they are with and what they are doing.
This is a good practice to help reduce risk
in many areas o f behavior.
This is an issue with no quick parenting
fixes or easy answers. But we can ’t afford
to be silent. Schools are letting out for the
summer. It’s time to start talking to our
children about the danger just down the
hall o f your home or in the aisles o f a
nearby convenience store.
BobNikkel, M.S.W., is the administra
tor o f the Office o f Mental Health and
Addiction Services in the Oregon De
partm ent o f Human Services.
Cheap Shot
My Foot
Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, re
cently proposed an am endment to a bill
requiring an audit o f all com munica
tions between Vice President C heney’s
office and the CIA regarding Iraq’s
weapons o f mass destruction. The pro
posal was hailed by one Republican
representative, in a typical show o f righ
teous GOP-style indignation, as the
cheap shot am endment o f the year.
Really? Not so very long ago we
impeached a president because it ap
peared he might have used his power
and influence as president for sex.
Now it appears as though a president
and his high-level advisors might have
used their power and influence to create
a war in which Americans have died.
Yet, all we have is a closed-door review
o f intelligence procedures.
No wonder the few brave legislators
left on the Hill have to resort to am end
ing pending legislation in a desperate
attempt to get some answers for the
American people.
Cheap shot my foot.
!
I
C y n d i C liffo rd
Business Credits a Slap in the Face
all, the new environmental regulations were
a quarter-century old. Many questioned
whether taxpayer should continue to pay
businesses for simply doing what the law
required.
In 2001, Gov John Kitzhaber said the
time had come to let this subsidy expire.
But the leaders o f the Legislature wanted
to extend it. In a rare spirit o f bipartisan
ship, the two sides agreed to a com pro
mise that called for higher standards and
gradual phase-out o f this credit by 2007.
1 supported the compromise.
T hat’s why 1 so strongly oppose the
new measure that some House members
forced through last week, without debate
- a measure that would relax the environ
mental standard and extend this expen
sive tax break another 11 years to 2014.
The fact that this bill passed the house
before the legislature has addressed edu
cation funding is a slap in the face to every
Schools suffer as
business credits
prosper
by O regon
R ep . M ark H ass
How is it the Oregon Legislature is
passing tax breaks for Enron before pass
ing out an education budget?
Lets start at the beginning.
In 1967, the Oregon Legislature passed
a tax incentive designed to help timber,
mills and other manufacturers comply with
newly passed federal Clean Air Act and
the Clean W ater Act. This incentive al
lowed business to lower their state tax bill
to compensate for costs o f the new equip
ment these laws required.
During the 1990s critics wondered
whether taxpayers should continue pay
ing for this ever-growing subsidy. After
person in Oregon,
Taxpayer should be alarmed for an
other, even more compelling reason. We
all know that Enron managed to escape
Oregon taxes last year, paying only the
minimum payment o f $10. What many
people don’t know is that Enron received
a tax break o f$ 1.1 million because o f Pol
lution Control Tax Credit.
Even worse, Enron has applied for $ 18
million is similar tax credits next year for
work associated with the decommission
ing o f the Trojan nuclear plant.
In addition to pending the bottom line
for huge multi-nationals like Enron, the
Pollution Control Tax Credit enables indi
viduals to take a credit for buying wood
chippers. Wood Chippers? Yes. More than
500 state certificates last year went to
people who bought wood chippers, be
cause chipping wood creates less pollu
tion than burning wood to dispose o f it.
C1’e
African American
Health Coalition, Inc,
?•
%
September 6,2003
WWW
Where
Start and finish at Oawson Park, located at
N. Vancouver and Stanton in Portland, OR.
When
Why
The walk begins at 9:00 e.m.
Other event activities begin at 1:00 a.m.
For mere tnlormatton
For mere information about participation or to
volunteer contact
the African American Health Coalition, Inc. at
503-413-1850, wbeamer@aahc-portland.org or
mield@aahc-portland.org
The purpose of the walk is to celebrate our
community's health and sustain ongoing free
physical activity classes for African Americans
in the Portland metro area.
Entry
Entry fee is $15 per person.
Wee i el 0 (thntc Approaches ta Community Meetth
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Isl Annual
loin us for the 1st Annual Wellness Within
REACH Walk Sat. September 6, 20031
Walk the 1.S or 4-mile coarse.
That may be true but in most instances
the law already prohibits open burning.
Whether this is valid application o f the
break misses the point: Does any one
really believe that buying a wood chipper
create new jobs in Oregon? Does anyone
believe we should cut school days while
subsidizing wood chippers?
Oregon needs to be smart in crafting
strategies for the new century. We need to
build our economy on real products and
services that pull their weight in the world’s
market not on wood chippers and dis
graced corporations like Enron.
Let’s do what Oregonians do best when
m an ag in g e n v iro n m e n ta l sta n d ard s
against economics: Let’s recycle this 30-
year-old law and turn it into something
that actually helps us move forward.
Democrat Mark Hass represents south
west Portland and Beaverton in the Or
egon Legislature.
Vancouver
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