March 25. 2009
Page A4
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betters 19 ,ht<3uctiidr
Unworkable Model
Thank you for covering the controversy over House Bill 3274
(Medical Marijuana Debate, March 18 issue) which would estab­
lish a state monopoly medical marijuana garden.
This bill points out a big problem with the current medical
marijuana law - lots of patients can't obtain the medicine, but it
proposes an unworkable model.
First, pharmacies can't dispense marijuana under federal law
and second, a state monopoly will produce miserable results -
there are many examples of this. Most importantly any effort to
recriminalize medical marijuana patients, as the bill does, would
be an unbelievably expensive boondoggle.
There is another proposal to create a regulated medical mari­
juana supply system and that’s Initiative Petition 28, which is
also introduced as Senate Bill 812. This proposal creates state-
regulated, nonprofit medical marijuana dispensaries and produc­
ers.
The Obama administration has indicated it will not prosecute
such nonprofits if they follow state law. Initiative 28 will get
patients the medical marijuana they need in a highly controlled
setting. But it won’t recriminalize the patients who can produce
their own medicine.
Initiative 28 will also generate millions of dollars in revenue for
the health department, and create a regulated program to assist
indigent patients in obtaining their medicine.
We hope the Legislature will create a workable medical mari­
juana supply system. If not we will continue petitioning to put
Initiative 28 on the November 2010 ballot. We already have 30,000
signatures and polls show this initiative will pass.
John Sajo
Director, Voter Power
Happy Birthday - 3 Generations
DNA Testing should be a Right
th a t h u n d re d s o f w ro n g ly 1999, Cole died in prison be­ jo b is not only about p ro s­
convicted people are now be­ fore DNA testing and the ja il­ ecuting the guilty, it is also
hind bars, not only because house confession o f another ab o u t p ro te c tin g the in n o ­
o f ey ew itn ess inmate later cleared his name. cent.
That's why, in 2007 he es­
A c c o rd in g to th e I n n o ­
flaw s, but also
because of the cence Project, a national non­ tablished the Conviction In­
r e f u s a l by a profit legal clinic dedicated to tegrity Unit, the first division
sm all num ber exonerating innocent people of its kind in the country dedi­
of states to al­ through DNA testing, there cated to overturning w rong­
low DNA evi­ are th o u san d s o f priso n ers ful convictions and securing
d e n c e to be desperate to have their cases the release of men and women
w ho have been w rongfully
used to prove evaluated.
im prisoned in Texas. His ef­
forts have helped secure the
re le a s e o f m ore th a n 19
wrongfully convicted prison­
ers thus far.
U nfo rtu n ately , six states
still deny prisoners access to
DNA testin g : A laska, A la ­
bam a, M assachusetts, O kla­
homa, M ississippi and South
Dakota. The Supreme Court is
now deliberating an A laska
Some of them are on death case that could grant all pris­
their innocence.
A ccording to the 60 M in­ row. Most of them are poor, oners that right. We believe
utes report, there have been forgotten and have used up that's what the court should
233 peo p le e x o n e ra te d by all legal avenues for relief. do.
In a nation that prides itself
D N A e v id e n c e a c ro ss the T he hope they have is that
on
the rule of law, there is no
biological
evidence
from
their
country. More than 75 percent
good
reason to deny prison­
cases
still
exists
and
can
be
o f them were convicted be­
ers
the
right to DNA testing if
subjected
to
DNA
testing.
cause of mistaken identity.
it
can
prove
their innocence,
Dallas
County
District
A
t­
Ronald Cotton was one of
identify
the
guilty and p re­
torney,
Craig
Watson,
the
first
the lucky ones.
vent
a
tragic
m iscarriage of
African
American
D
istrict
A
t­
Tim othy Cole of Lubbock,
Texas was not so fortunate. torney in T exas, has made this justice.
Marc H. Moriai is president
He was sentenced to 25 years issu e a c e n te rp ie c e o f his
and chief executive officer of
in 1985 after being wrongly work.
Watson believes the DA's the National Urban League.
identified by a rape victim. In
Let’s hope the
Supreme
Court agrees
H. M oriai .
Im a g in e b e in g c o n ­
v ic te d o f a c rim e you
d id n 't com m it and la n ­
guishing in prison for 11
years until new DNA evi­
dence proved your inno­
cence. That's just what hap­
p e n e d to R o n a ld C o tto n
whose story was recently told
on CBS' 60 Minutes.
C otton's accuser, Jennifer
T hom pson, was absolutely
certain she correctly identi­
fied the man who broke into
her Burlington , N.C. apart­
m ent and raped her on the
night of July 28, 1984. But she
was wrong.
Her mistake produced more
than one other victim of that
brutal crime - Ronald Cotton,
an in n o cen t man w ho was
sentenced to life in prison,
and several other women who
were raped by the real crim i­
nal who remained free.
W hat finally turned the tide
in Cotton's case was the sci­
ence o f DNA testing which
Cotton's lawyer was allowed
to use to prove his client's
innocence. The real crime is
by M arc
Rose L Trice
Miracle T rice-Barber
79 years old
9 years old
Love from your family
Thank you
Your Care
Our First Priority
Dr. Marcelitte Failla
Chiropractic Physician
We are located at
1716 N.E. 42nd Ave.
Portland, OR 97213
(Between Broadway
and Sandy Blvd.)
Automobile accident injuries
Chronic headache and joint pain
Workers Compensation
Caliyiraifqjpointment!
There is no good reason to deny
prisoners the right to DNA testing
if it can prove their innocence,
identify the guilty and prevent a
tragic miscarriage o f justice.
k
(503) 228-6140
Ilw^Iortlanh ©bserner
Oregon's oldest multicultural newspaper.
New Mexico
repeals the
death penalty
by B enjamin
Serving Portland's communities f or 36 years.
Committed to Cultural Diversity
503-288-0033
,
T odd J ealous
New M exico Gov. Bill
R ichardson and the state “
L eg islature m ade the right
decision last week in repeal­
ing capital punishment. The
governor's inspirational lead­
ership is an exem plar of the
intersection of morality and
wise governance that serves
our nation well.
We c o n g ra tu la te
our
N AACP New M exico State
C o n fe re n c e and S an te Fe
Branch that worked tirelessly
to support the repeal. Their
e f f o r ts h e lp e d re su lt in a
strong bipartisan vote in the
.4
J
a®-
M
W|
N ew M e x ic o
legislature re-
fle e tin g
a
gro w >ng con_
se n s u s
th a t
the death pen-
a' t^ has failed
>he people of
New Mexico.
They are joining millions of
citizens nationwide who un­
derstand that capital punish­
ment risks executing the in­
nocent, is unfairly applied,
fails victims’ families and law
e n f o r c e m e n t and w a ste s
scarce taxpayer dollars.
As Coretta Scott King once
sa id , "A s one w hose h u s ­
band and m other-in-law have
both died as the victim s of
m urder assassination, I stand
firm ly and unequivocally op­
posed to the death penalty for
3:i,t ^Iortlanb ODbserUer
Established 1970
USPS 9 5 9 -6 8 0 -----------------------------------------------------
4 7 4 7 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Portland, OR 97211
w w w .p o r tla n d o b s e r v e r .c o m
Advertise with diversiix in
œ 1,1 |l ì o r tk n ib (fib er r ner
( ail 5()3-288-(X)33 adstë> porfiando H server.coni
EDiTot-iN-CMtr, P uhi . ishkk : Charles H. Washington
E ditor M ichael Leighton
D is tr ib u tio n M anagt . r ." M ark W ashington
C r ia t iv i D irecto r : Paul N eufeldt
those convicted of capital of­
fenses. An evil deed is not
redeem ed by an evil deed of
retaliation. Justice is never
advanced in the taking of a
human life. M orality is never
upheld by legalized murder."
C o re tta 's prescient quote
presaged a grow ing chorus of
deep concern about the death
penalty across the country.
In this time o f fiscal crisis,
it is more important than ever
to make smart choices when
it comes to meeting the needs
o f our citizens. By repealing
th e d e a th p e n a lty . N ew
M exico can now focus re ­
sources on the im portant is­
sue of providing tangible as­
sista n c e to the fa m ilie s o f
murder victims.
A dditional m easures will
enable New Mexico to use the
savings gained from ending
the death penalty to provide
a reparation award to children
o f m urder victim s, provide
services and programs to mur­
der victim s’ fam ilies, create a
murder victim family services
fund and require employers to
provide leave to crime victims
to atten d ju d ic ia l p ro c e e d ­
ings.
Gov. R ichardson and the
state legislature are to be ap­
plauded for their moral cour­
age. In doing so, Ihey light a
candle for smart crime policies
for our entire nation. We sin­
cerely hope that their enlight­
ened leadership will clear a
path for other states to fol­
low.
Benjamin Todd Jealous is
president and chief executive
officer of the NAACP.
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