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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 31, 2016)
August 31, 2016 Page 7 O PINION Your Carpet Best Cleaning Choice Martin Cleaning Service Carpet & Upholstery Cleaning Residential & Commercial Services Minimum Service CHG. $45.00 A small distance/travel charge may be applied CARPET CLEANING 2 Cleaning Areas or more $30.00 Each Area Pre-Spray Traffic Areas (Includes: 1 small Hallway) 1 Cleaning Area (only) $40.00 Includes Pre-Spray Traffic Area (Hallway Extra) Federal Marijuana Laws Reek of Hypocrisy Keeping pot on same list as heroin J ill r iChardson For a few brief months, it looked like America might take a step closer to sanity. And then came the news: the Obama administration will not loosen federal restrictions on marijuana after all. Before delving into the issue of marijuana, consider its two fellow “gateway drugs:” alcohol and tobacco. Aside from the po- tential benefits from drinking a glass of red wine, neither one is good for you. Alcohol can be incredibly harmful, either via acute alcohol poisoning or via chronic destruc- tion to your life and liver. Ciga- rettes are always bad for you. All three—alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana—supposedly en- tice users to take a timid step into the world of drug use and then find themselves plunged all the way in with “harder” drugs like heroin, cocaine, or meth. by And while illegal drugs like meth and heroin can ruin your life or kill you, so can legal ones like alcohol. Just ask any recov- ering alcoholic. But among the three so-called gateway drugs, marijuana alone is illegal according to the federal government. Marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, defined as having no medical use and being subject to abuse. It’s more regu- lated than cocaine, which hospi- tals have on hand for medical use. But half of all U.S. states dis- agree and have enacted laws to legalize medical marijuana at the state level. So recently, two governors asked the feds to take anoth- er look at its classification. The Obama administration and the DEA had a chance to ask them- selves—should marijuana really be on the same list as heroin, as it is now? Yes, they decided, it should. They’ve agreed to expand the availability for “legitimate re- searchers” to conduct clinical trials to determine whether mari- juana has any legitimate medical uses, but they currently say there’s no credible evidence that it does. The hypocrisy is unbelievable, on two levels. First, because alcohol and to- bacco are allowed, even though people can abuse them, and even when they provide no medical benefit. Second, because we use an entirely different standard to de- termine the safety and legality of any number of other chemicals. In most cases, our laws treat chemicals as safe until proven dangerous. Marijuana, on the oth- er hand, is being held to a higher standard. It’s not even that it’s considered dangerous until prov- en safe. The government says that they won’t lift regulations on it until it’s proven beneficial. In the last 40 years, the EPA banned just five out of over 80,000 chemicals used in the U.S. So while asbestos was still legal, even after scientists knew how toxic it was, people were locked up in jail for smoking pot. To be fair, Congress just passed a reform of toxic chemical regulations this year. But the new law only goes so far. The EPA is currently working its way down a list of 90 high-priority chemicals that are both toxic and legal, in- cluding asbestos and arsenic. Why do we have one standard for thousands of chemicals—con- sidered safe until proven other- wise—and another for marijua- na? Imagine a world in which as- bestos had to be proven safe be- fore it could be sold legally. How many horrible deaths from meso- thelioma would’ve been prevent- ed? Meanwhile, what if marijuana, which has caused zero deaths by overdose, was considered safe until proven otherwise? We could regulate it just like we do tobacco and alcohol. We could say no advertising its use, no driving or working while high, no selling marijuana to anyone under 21, and so on. The decision to keep marijua- na illegal on a federal level until it’s proven to be beneficial reeks of hypocrisy. OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is the author of Rec- ipe for America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It. OtherWords. org. Stairs (12-16 stairs - With Other Services) : $25.00 Area/Oriental Rugs: $25.00 Minimum Area/Oriental Rugs (Wool) : $40.00 Minimum Heavily Soiled Area: Additional $10.00 each area (Requiring Extensive Pre-Spraying) UPHOLSTERY CLEANING Sofa: $69.00 Loveseat: $49.00 Sectional: $109 - $139 Chair or Recliner: $25 - $49 Throw Pillows (With Other Services) : $5.00 ADDITIONAL SERVICES • Area & Oriental Rug Cleaning • Auto/Boat/RV Cleaning • Deodorizing & Pet Odor Treatment • Spot & Stain Removal Service • Scotchguard Protection • Minor Water Damage Services SEE CURRENT FLYER FOR ADDITIONAL PRICES & SERVICES Call for Appointment (503) 281-3949
