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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 24, 2012)
Page IO___________________________________ ^ o rtla n h (©bserücr____________________ October 24. 2012 Help with Street Trees c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 9 U niversity Park, Vernon, and W oodlaw n neighborhoods. If you d o n ’t see your neigh borhood on this list, email Andy M eeks • at andym @ friendsoftrees.org to learn how you can bring a plant ing to your neighborhood. Since 1989, Friends of Trees has planted more than 450,000 trees and native plants in the Portland-V ancouver and E u gene-Springfield m etro areas. To learn more or to find the planting date for your address, visit friendsoftrees.org. New Laws for Cannabis c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3 continued Ä from front photo by M ark W ashington / T he P ortland O bserver Southeast Portland siblings Isabelle Shmeer, 2, and Isaac Shmeer, 5, try to stay dry at the Sauvie Island Pumpkin Patch. y DO YOU HAVE HEART DISEASE? Suffer from angina? Lack stamina? Shortness o f breath? If you said yes to any o f these questions, EECP® m aybe the help you need. Boa) I* • Clinicaly proven, non* Invasive treatment lor at and/or congestive heart failure • FDA-approved and covered by Medteare and most insurance providers _____ *EECP<® to performed on referral ®nd in confunction with your • Being offered by leading medical centers mdudng the MATO CUMC, JOHNS-HOPKINS, ano m Monwno at naan Gamers ur Arrwnca Medical Director Dr. Ronald Schultz, M D is aboard-certified cardiologist and Fellow of the American College of Cardiology with over 30 years of experience and is the founder of Heart Centers of America {M t drivers, and an expansion of black m arket crim e and violence. Other opponents don’t like the creation of the OCC, a seven- member state agency, calling it “needless government.” The Portland Observer hit the streets to hear what local resi dents think about legalizing the most commonly used illicit drug in America. “I’m all for it. Absolutely,” said Shawn Snyder, 39, a north e a st P o rtla n d e r ra ise d in Prineville, Oregon, when asked if he would vote yes on Measure 80. “I’m tired of them [the state] spending m oney on busting people for it.” Snyder, like his friend who responded anonymously, ques tioned how Oregon’s plan to tax and regulate cannabis would play out. Both men agreed that state regulation might create more problems than it would solve, creating a hassle like the OLCC has in the past for people trying get a permit to open a liquor store. Sid, 31, last name anonymous, also supports cannabis legaliza tion but fears consequences of state regulation. Sid worries the law would put small growers out of business. He said the actual implementa tion of it gives the federal gov ernment overbearing power that seems to do less good than in tended, but like everything “it’s a process— there’s a balance to be had.” Sid continued, “And in order to create that balance, I think we need to legalize it, so the feds are not overbearing and so that the world of marijuana is in check.” S id ’s partner B eckie, 39, who uses m edicinal m arijuana in brownie form not to get high, but to take the edge o ff pain caused by her Fibro- m yalgia, says she will vote yes. She said people are as capable o f being responsible with m ari juana as much as they are with alcohol, though both have their pros and cons. “If it passes, it’s going to cre ate jobs and revenues for our state and I think that’s very sm art.” Beckie also strongly supports the deregulation of hemp. Hemp, she said, is an amazing, sustainable agricultural product that our state would ben efit from. Other folks talked about how legalizing cannabis would change the stigma of the drug. Lynn McDonald, 28, doesn’t use the drug anymore, but says it’s a very benign substance. “It’s not the threat people think it is,” he said, “so I’m 100% for getting it legalized.” Many residents voiced vary ing, definite opinions. “I don’t smoke marijuana,” said a man who practiced law for a living. He will not vote on the issue. “I’m not really for it,” said Kiely Johnson, 31, a Portland resident of 34 years. “It’s a poor idea— I don’t really see any thing good coming from it.” The legalization of marijuana is long overdue, said a northeast Portland resident. “Restricted like this, where they control it really well, I think is a great idea,” he said. “We ought to decriminalize all drug use,” said a 65-year-old local resident. “The war on drugs is a failed policy— it’s hooey.” A retired Portland English school teacher, 79, has witnessed the measure come on and off the ballot since the 1960’s. “It’s silly to keep it illegal,” he said. “It breeds disrespect for the law. People do what they want to do anyw ay.” While legalizing marijuana will bring its own set of new prob lems, the elderly African-Ameri can man said we should just face the problems and do it. “Prohibition didn’t work,” he said, “Maybe we should have learned a lesson from that.”
