Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (May 27, 2015)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Wednesday, May 27, 2015 OTHER VIEWS Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN DANIEL WATTENBURGER Publisher Managing Editor JENNINE PERKINSON TIM TRAINOR Advertising Director Opinion Page Editor OUR VIEW The toot heard round the world In the past month we’ve reported on a wide swath of local issues, from drug courts to droughts, body cameras to budgets. And yet one letter to the editor we published Saturday, a satirical VHQGXSWRWKH3HQGOHWRQFLW\ council’s decision to add marijuana odor to the nuisance ordinance, has generated more online views than all the other hard work combined. )LUVWRIINXGRVWR3HWHU:DOWHUV Secondly, kudos to the word fart. It’s a funny word, and funnier still in print. Walters and the word combined to form an incisive and hilarious letter that clearly hit the right notes, using the straight-faced format of newspaper ink to question why some odors should be banned by name while others — namely, his URRPPDWH¶VÀDWXOHQFH²VKRXOGQRW Even before the letter was UHSXEOLVKHGE\ZHEVLWHV+XI¿QJWRQ 3RVW-H]HEHO1HZ<RUN'DLO\ News, Dave Barry’s blog, OregonLive and many others, it was getting plenty of comments on our site. But then it “went viral.” It has now been viewed tens of thousands of times on our website in the past few days, with nearly a hundred more readers being added to the rolls HYHU\PLQXWHRQ7XHVGD\ In the world of the Internet, WKDWWUDI¿FLVEDUHO\DEOLSDQ imperceptible tick for news sites that feed off clicks and audience HQJDJHPHQW7KHUH¶VDQHQWLUHRQOLQH industry for that, and it seems to be WKULYLQJ<RXU)DFHERRNDQG7ZLWWHU IHHGVDUHVXUHO\¿OOHGHDFKGD\ with strange news from around the world, mostly from aggregators who cherry pick the best stories from the millions and millions of outlets whose work is available at the click of a mouse. For each and every one of our clicks, thousands more went WRDVLWHVXFKDV+XI¿QJWRQ3RVW <HW:DOWHUVGLGQ¶WUHFHLYHDGLPH IRUKLV3XOLW]HUZRUWK\FUHDWLRQ and the East Oregonian didn’t receive more than a few nickels for doing the reporting that inspired the farticle and publishing the oeuvre RIRGRU7KDW¶VPRVWO\WKHIDXOWRI newspapers, whose heads have been too far into council meetings and court appearances to think about new ways to make money in a digital world. But it’s also the fault of that digital world, a place where creators very rarely reap the fruits of their labor. Now don’t get us wrong. We’re not greedy; in fact it’s nice to have some barb-throwing company for this latest bit of city council inanity. And no one should be disappointed about giving the world a laugh. It’s just that “going viral” can be many things: scary, thrilling, confusing, validating. But one thing it isn’t: SUR¿WDEOH:HKRSHLQWKHIXWXUH WKHZRUOG¿QGVDZD\WRUHZDUG the people who make a splash — something people love — be they letter writers or singing sensations RUDSHUVRQZKRJHWVWKDWDPD]LQJ video of the rainbow bending clear across the sky. Sure, Walters’ letter smelled like something that could go far, but we had no idea he’d be doing Northwest UDGLRRQ7XHVGD\DQGEHWKH¿UVW thing that popped up when you type 3HQGOHWRQLQWRDVHDUFKHQJLQH Might keep an eye on the late night VKRZVWRQLJKWMXVWLQFDVH3HQGOHWRQ makes the monologues. We even had to update the old newsroom axiom: if it bleeds it leads, but if it stinks it gets links. But that stink will soon die down and the Internet will quickly move that spotlight on to the next person-of-the-minute. Don’t fret. If local councils continue to create comical and discriminatory rules in order to harass and intimidate legal marijuana users, we imagine it won’t be long until they’re again the butt of jokes across the country. Unfortunately, that’s not going to translate into much local economic development. A fart-free town, on the other hand ... Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board of Publisher Kathryn Brown, Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, and Opinion Page Editor Tim Trainor. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. Odor nuisance ordinance is a nuisance In response to the addition to the nuisance ordinance to include the smell of marijuana: I speak for many when I say this is ridiculous. Marijuana is as legal as alcohol and tobacco and can be consumed by those over the legal age. While I will not be one of those partaking in its consumption, it was voted on and passed by registered voters. Forgive me if I am wrong, but being voted on by voters is more than I can say for this ordinance — although this addition does pose some valid questions. If I am in my yard and my neighbor’s garbage can offends PHFDQZH¿QHWKDW"0D\EH for the noxious black plume RIVPRNHIURPGLHVHOWUXFNV" %HWWHU\HWLPSRVHD¿QHIRUWKH methane emitted from horse/ cattle manure and ban all parades. What if I am a vegetarian and my neighbor barbecues meat and the VPHOOFURVVHVRQWRP\SURSHUW\" &DQZHJHWD¿QHIRUDOOWKHVH" :K\"7KH\DUHMXVWE\SURGXFWV of consumption. Exactly like consuming marijuana or growing Smoking, vaping and nicotine W e need a national debate on ¿UVWWRUHFRJQL]HWKDWQLFRWLQHZDV nicotine,” said Mitch Zeller. the reason people got addicted to Zeller is the director of FLJDUHWWHV³+HXVHGWRVD\µ3HRSOH WKH&HQWHUIRU7REDFFR3URGXFWV smoke for the nicotine but die from a division of the Food and Drug the tar,’” Zeller recalled. Administration created in 2009 when 7KLVLVDOVRZK\=HOOHUIRXQG Congress passed legislation giving e-cigarettes so “interesting,” as he the FDA regulatory authority — at SXWLWZKHQWKH\¿UVWFDPHRQWKH long last! — over cigarettes. In market. A cigarette gets nicotine to Joseph addition, the center will soon Nocera the brain in seven seconds, he said. have regulatory authority over Nicotine gum or patches can take Comment other tobacco products, including up to 60 minutes or longer, which is electronic cigarettes, which have far too slow for smokers who need become enormously controversial even as DQLFRWLQH¿[%XWHFLJDUHWWHVFDQUHSOLFDWH WKH\KDYHJDLQHGLQXVH7KURXJKVRPHWKLQJ the speed of cigarettes in delivering nicotine called a “deeming rule,” the center is in the to the brain, thus creating real potential for process of asserting them to become a serious that oversight over smoking cessation device. There are still many e-cigarettes. But there are still many Opponents of questions about both their questions about both VDIHW\DQGWKHLUHI¿FDF\ electronic cigarettes, which include many For instance, are smokers (e-cigarettes) safety SXEOLFKHDOWKRI¿FLDOV using e-cigarettes to quit and their efficacy. For cigarettes, or they using hope that the center will treat these new to get a nicotine hit instance, are smokers them devices like it treats at times when they can’t cigarettes: taking using e-cigarettes to quit VPRNHFLJDUHWWHV"$QG steps to discourage beyond that there are teenagers from cigarettes, or they using important questions about “vaping,” for instance, nicotine itself, and how it them to get a nicotine hit should be dealt with. and placing strict limits on the industry’s “When nicotine at times when they can’t is attached ability to market its to smoke products. particles, it will kill,” said smoke cigarettes? 3URSRQHQWV Zeller. “But if you take meanwhile, hope that same drug and put it that the center will view e-cigarettes as in a patch, it is such a safe medicine that it a “reduced harm” product that can save doesn’t even require a doctor’s prescription.” OLYHVE\RIIHULQJDQLFRWLQH¿[ZLWKRXW 7KDWSDUDGR[KHOSVH[SODLQZK\KHEHOLHYHV the carcinogens that are ingested through “there needs to be a rethink within society on a lit cigarette. In this scenario, e-cigarette nicotine.” manufacturers would be able to make health Within the FDA, Zeller has initiated claims, and adult smokers might even be discussions with “the other side of the house” encouraged to switch from smoking to — the part of the agency that regulates vaping as part of a reduced harm strategy. drugs — to come up with a comprehensive, When I requested an interview with agency-wide policy on nicotine. But the Zeller, I didn’t expect him to tip his hat on public health community — and the rest of which direction he wanted the center to go, us — needs to have a debate as well. and he didn’t. Indeed, one of the points he “One of the impediments to this debate,” made was that the FDA was conducting a Zeller said, is that the e-cigarette opponents JUHDWGHDORIVFLHQWL¿FUHVHDUFK²PRUH DUHIRFXVHGRQDOOWKHÀDYRUVDYDLODEOHLQ than 50 studies in all, he said — aimed at e-cigarettes — many of which would seem generating the evidence needed to better aimed directly at teenagers — as well as their understand where to place e-cigarettes along marketing, which is often a throwback to the what he calls “the continuum of risk.” EDGROGGD\VRI%LJ7REDFFR³7KHGHEDWH Zeller is a veteran of the “tobacco wars” has become about these issues and has just of the 1990s, working alongside then-FDA hardened both sides,” Zeller told me. Commissioner David Kessler, who had It’s not that Zeller believes nicotine is audaciously labeled cigarettes a “drug- perfectly safe (he doesn’t) or that we should delivery device” (the drug being nicotine) shrug our shoulders if teenagers take up and had claimed regulatory authority. Zeller vaping. He believes strongly that kids should left the FDA in 2000, after the Supreme be discouraged from using e-cigarettes. Court ruled against Kessler’s interpretation, Rather, he thinks there should be a and joined the American Legacy Foundation, recognition that different ways of delivering where he helped create its hard-hitting, QLFRWLQHDOVRFRPHZLWKGLIIHUHQWULVNV7R DQWLWREDFFR³7UXWKFDPSDLJQ´$IWHUDVWLQW acknowledge that, and to grapple with its ZLWKDFRQVXOWLQJ¿UP3LQQH\$VVRFLDWHVKH implications, would be a step forward. returned to the FDA in early 2013 to lead the ³7KLVLVVXHLVQ¶WHFLJDUHWWHV´VDLG0LWFK HIIRUWWR¿QDOO\UHJXODWHWKHWREDFFRLQGXVWU\ Zeller. “It’s nicotine.” “I am fond of quoting Michael Russell,” Ŷ Zeller said, referring to an important South Joseph Nocera is a business columnist for The New York Times, and a staff writer for African tobacco scientist who died in 2009. The New York Times Magazine. In the early 1970s, Russell was among the YOUR VIEWS WKHÀRZHUZLOOSURGXFHD byproduct, a smell. A similar rule was attempted in Denver and failed because it was an extremely subjective measurement. Some people’s noses are more sensitive than others. Some odors offend some but not others. Will a disagreement with your neighbor VXGGHQO\LQÀXHQFHWKHVHQVHRI VPHOO",GRNQRZWKDW,GRQRWZDQW police to waste time and resources on a frivolous ordinance. It is a slippery slope when we begin policing personal preference. It is very interesting to see RXURI¿FLDOVEHFRPHOLNHGHDOHUV looking to cash in any way they can on marijuana. I understand the need for more worthless statues and raised sidewalks or possibly changing the parking scheme of downtown again EXWWKLVLVDQXQMXVWL¿HGDQG absolutely ridiculous ordinance. As a taxpaying homeowner in WKLVFRPPXQLW\,¿QGWKLVWREHD VDGDWWHPSWWRJUDVSDWDÀHHWLQJ prohibition for the sake of revenue. Marijuana is here to stay and has legal status, we have to deal ZLWKLW7RSXWLWLQSHUVSHFWLYH when you go to your fridge and grab a beer and sit down to watch your favorite sport, be thankful that back in 1933 the sound of a beer can opening was not determined to EHRIIHQVLYHDQGD¿QDEOHRIIHQVH Joshua Nelson Pendleton Travel management plan a shell game It’s been described as a shell game, it’s been delivered as a saving grace for the “sustainability” of our nation, and it is so important that is has taken DWOHDVW¿YHIRUHVWVXSHUYLVRUVDQG eight years to complete — but one thing is for certain, they don’t want you knowing what you’re getting in the travel management plan, and they surely do not want you having a true voice in the discussion. Currently the Wallowa- Whitman National Forest is working on Subpart A of the plan. 7KLVSDUWLVZKHUHWKH)RUHVW Service decides how many and what roads are needed (or more importantly not needed) to manage the forest. One would think the VXSHUYLVRU¶VRI¿FHZRXOGKROG meetings with the residents of the UHJLRQWR¿QGRXWWKHLUVSHFL¿F uses and needs and work that into the equation; unfortunately, that isn’t the case. I personally have a request in from September of 2014 for the draft document outlining those minimum roads numbers. As of today, I still have no document. :K\\RXPLJKWDVN":HOOLW¶V pretty simple: because they don’t want us to know. See, it’s pretty hard to sneak something through when everyone knows what you’re doing, and so the Forest Service simply keeps us in the dark until WKH\¿OHWKHUHSRUWZLWKWKHLU UHJLRQDORI¿FHLQ3RUWODQG7KH\¶OO say, “We asked them to participate in the maps session and that should count for meeting their needs,” but it doesn’t. Currently in Eastern Oregon exists a draft document of the Subpart A report, and the roads it intends to identify for closure. And by the end of 2015 the WWNF will release that plan to the regional RI¿FHIRUDFFHSWDQFH 7KHTXHVWLRQLVZLOO\RXDOORZ them to do it without standing up DQGVD\LQJQR" If you have time, please send an email to tmontoya@fs.fed. us requesting the draft Subpart A report and tell him travel management planning cannot move forward until all uses are protected in the Subpart A report. LETTERS POLICY John D. George Bates, Ore. The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Submitted letters must be signed by the author and include the city of resi- dence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to Managing Editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.
