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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (April 28, 2016)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Thursday, April 28, 2016 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 Oregon primary kinda, sorta matters Bobby Kennedy and Eugene The Wall Street Journal recently McCarthy made Oregon appearances published a list of the remaining in 1968. McCarthy prevailed. state primary elections. The WSJ Now that Ted Cruz and John failed to include Oregon’s May Kasich have a strategy that involves primary. While it was wrong, Oregon and a few the omission did other states, we relect a certain Oregon might see a lot of truth — that the Kasich. Cruz has Oregon Primary prepares for decided to stay away has not mattered in presidency- while Kasich has presidential politics announced in quite awhile. seeking visitors. already stops in suburban It is true that Portland and Barack Obama Medford, on his way to California to spoke in Pendleton in 2008. That compete for the big pot of delegates same year former President Bill Clinton spoke here, too, to boost the down there. We have not heard word from fortunes of his wife Hillary. Donald Trump. Perhaps he would But one must go back decades like to skip Portland — where to ind an Oregon primary that protests would be guaranteed — saw candidates criss-crossing the and speak in more welcoming state. It is hard to believe, but in environment? Say a grass inield? the spring of 1960 Sen. John F. Kennedy stumped in many locations Would certainly be fun to welcome a new kind of rodeo to town. across Oregon. An EO Media On the Democratic side, Group publisher saw JFK speak Bernie Sanders will likely win the in Pendleton’s Hawthorne Grade Democratic vote and will try to School cafeteria on that occasion. recreate the Portland “put a bird on The elegant Jacqueline Kennedy it” magic. stood in a receiving line in that When we receive our ballots humble setting. in the mail over the weekend, it “He cared enough to come” will be a medium thrill. We have was Nelson Rockefeller’s appeal presidential races in both parties. to Oregon Republican voters It will be fun to have a semblance in the 1964 primary. It worked, of the presidential primaries in with Rocky beating Arizona Sen. Oregon. So we kinda, sorta matter Barry Goldwater among Oregon this time around. Republicans. 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. OTHER VIEWS Reclassifying marijuana is long overdue Corvallis Gazette-Times T he federal government says it’s reviewing marijuana’s status as a Schedule 1 drug, a move that — regardless of what you think about the drug — is long overdue. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency made the announcement in a memo to lawmakers and said it hopes to have a decision ready sometime in the irst half of this year. Marijuana has long been classiied as a Schedule 1 drug, but the classiication is as ludicrous today as it was back in the day. The Schedule 1 category is for substances which are not considered to have “any currently accepted medical use in the U.S., a lack of accepted safety for use under medical supervision and a high potential for abuse.” By point of comparison, heroin also is a Schedule 1 drug. There’s no reason for marijuana to be listed as a Schedule 1 drug — and, besides, that bit of business about not having any accepted medical use will come as a surprise to the millions of medical marijuana users in the United States. There’s another reason why the Schedule 1 listing is vexing: It has needlessly complicated important scientiic research, not just into marijuana, but also into industrial hemp, potentially a very useful crop. (Industrial hemp, which can be used for a variety of purposes, has very low levels of tetrahydrocannabinol — the substance that gets pot users high.) It was almost amusing to watch Oregon State University oficials tip-toe around this issue last year before taking tentative steps to allow researchers there to work with industrial hemp. (To be fair, an institution such as OSU will be careful about working with a Schedule 1 drug, especially since it’s potentially putting millions of federal research dollars at risk.) But there’s a lot of research yet to be done into the medicinal qualities of marijuana as well, and pulling pot off the Schedule 1 list would be a substantial step forward for that work. A recent interview in The Oregonian with Dr. Colin Roberts, a pediatric neurologist and director of the Doernbecher Childhood Epilepsy Program at the Oregon Health and Science University, illuminated some of the issues researchers face. Roberts is working with a pharmaceutical company on a drug made with pure cannabidiol that has shown promise in treating patients with a form of epilepsy. One big problem with the Schedule 1 designation is that it requires researchers to undergo a cumbersome approval process before working with a drug on the list. In the case of marijuana, researchers must use pot grown at a government-run facility at the University of Mississippi. Researchers can’t just go out and buy pot at a dispensary, because there’s no way to verify precisely what they’re buying — and remember that different strains of marijuana have very different properties. Taking pot off the Schedule 1 list would allow researchers to obtain the sort of independent veriication that’s essential for meaningful research. “What we really need in the medical community is really good data,” Roberts told The Oregonian, “because if we don’t have that we will never understand the impact of these products good and bad.” Pulling marijuana from the Schedule 1 list would be a irst step toward getting that kind of good data. What’s the holdup? There’s no reason for marijuana to continue to be listed as a Schedule 1 drug. LETTERS POLICY 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 residence 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. The cult of sore losers B ernie Sanders isn’t losing. election in the Republican candidate’s favor. Just ask many of his backers All trust, most etiquette and or listen to some of his own many rules went out the window. complaints. He’s being robbed, a And while Republicans have been victim of antiquated rules, voter more audacious than Democrats, suppression, shady arithmetic and a the manifold accusations made by corrupt Democratic establishment. The Sanders supporters show that the swindle includes the South’s getting effort to delegitimize winners is a inordinate sway and the poor none at Frank pan-partisan tic. all. If Americans really had a voice, Bruni Pro-Sanders actor Tim Robbins they would shout “Bernie! Bernie! Comment ired off a tweet this week with the Bernie!” until too hoarse to shout charge that “this election is being anymore. stolen,” the hashtag #VoterFraud and the Donald Trump isn’t winning. Just ask insinuation that The Times and CNN were Ted Cruz, by whose strange and self-serving essentially conspiring with Hillary Clinton’s logic it is “the will of the people” (his actual campaign. words) that he and John The Sanders camp is Kasich collude to prevent right to raise questions Trump from amassing a about voting irregularities majority of delegates so in a few places, including that some runner-up with New York, where there’s less demonstrable support an investigation underway, can leapfrog past him to and about the odd become the Republican patchwork of closed and presidential nominee. open primaries across the Democracy in action! country. I agree that Trump’s But all of the candidates nomination would be knew about that patchwork frightening. I disagree that going in, and Clinton’s successful navigation Cruz’s would be better. It certainly wouldn’t of it — she has a multimillion-vote lead over be more justiied, but such rational thinking Sanders — is more persuasive than any dark has gone missing in this year of losing claims of dastardly tricks. gracelessly. On the Republican side, Trump and And in this era of irresolution. All Cruz have each bellowed about the other’s too often, contests don’t yield accepted supposedly unfair advantages at a volume conclusions and a grudging acquiescence by that’s hardly constructive. It’s self-promotion those who didn’t get their way. They prompt with a side of cynicism. accusations of thievery, cries of illegitimacy The graceless losing of 2016 owes and a determination to neuter the victor, something to this election’s particular nullify the results or reverse them as soon as characters. When you’re not just a man but a possible. Elections don’t settle disputes, not even for revolution (Sanders), you can never quit the ight or lee the front. some leeting honeymoon. They accelerate When you’re the Don Quixote of extreme them, because there’s a pernicious insistence conservatism (Cruz), you can never ditch that they’re not referendums on the public your armor. And it’s easy to tell yourself — mood but elaborate board games in which because it’s easy for all of us to tell ourselves the triumphant player used the wickedest — that surrendering to Trump is surrendering skulduggery. your patriotism. When you honestly believe or But there’s more at work. The refusal to disingenuously assert that you’ve been grant victors legitimacy bundles together so outmaneuvered rather than outvoted, why much about America today: the coarseness declare a truce, let alone cooperate, in the of our discourse; the blind tribalism coloring aftermath? our debates; the elevation of individualism The process has never been smooth and far above common purpose; the ethos that the defeated seldom docile. To pluck just one everybody should and can feel like a winner example from the annals of acrimony, Teddy on every day. Roosevelt formed the Progressive Party in Our system for electing presidents is 1912 as a revolt against the Republicans’ indeed a mess. It estranges voters and is ripe nomination of the incumbent president, for reform. I explored that last week. William Howard Taft, rather than him. But pushing for change is different from But an epoch of unrelieved mutual rejecting any unwelcome outcome as the suspicion between competitors — and bastard fruit of a poisoned tree. If grievances especially between Republicans and are never retired, then progress has no chance. Democrats — took hold somewhere on a If everything is rigged, then all is fair, not timeline that runs through Watergate; the just in love and war but on the banks of the conirmation hearings of Robert Bork and Clarence Thomas; the serial investigations into Potomac, where we can look forward to four more years of inertia and ugliness. the Clintons; and Mitch McConnell’s vow to ■ thwart President Barack Obama at every turn. Frank Bruni, an Op-Ed columnist since In the midst of that came Bush v. Gore, in June 2011, joined the New York Times in which a majority of Republican appointees 1995. on the Supreme Court decided a presidential The election process has never been smooth and the defeated seldom docile. YOUR VIEWS A vote for Morehouse is a vote for Pendleton council change If we didn’t know who the elite and the “good-old-boys” club want for the city council, we do now. My opponent Scott Fairley has been endorsed by Mayor Houk, Councilor Chuck Wood and the East Oregonian. I did not expect to be endorsed by anyone tied to the present administration. I knew it would be a long shot for the EO to endorse anyone outside of government. The EO has been critical of the present city administration and council in the last two years. Why would they endorse someone who is part of this administration? If you want change this is the wrong way to achieve it. I will leave it up to the voters to decide, families who are buying a home, paying taxes, raising children, trying to save a little money for kids’ college and their own retirement, retired people like myself and the many residents who live in apartments. Can we afford another four years like the last two years? It may be many years until we have another chance to make a big change in our city government. If elected I will work with whoever the voters choose. I am a conservative but am willing to listen to any idea that will help Pendleton move forward. We have had enough bad ideas already. If you want change, vote for me. If you like the status quo, vote for the other guy. Rex J. Morehouse, Ward 2 candidate Pendleton Wolves appreciate tasty humans I have heard that some of your readers believe that our pack won’t attack and eat them. Human lesh isn’t our irst choice because it doesn’t have the same kick as a wild animal, but our human kills have been reported. My Canadian cousins killed a youngster on Sept. 24, 1963. In another attack a 32-year-old teacher, Candice Burner, was killed March 8, 2010. These kills were documented by the authorities. My point is that we don’t want people who love us and vote for non-lethal control to get on our case. Certainly bears and cougars are bad actors and should be eliminated, but if you are out skipping along in your new spandex gnawing on some delicious fried chicken, we may have to surround you for sharing time. Be aware cause we are there. Alfa Wolf, Eastern Oregon packmaster (As told to Mike Mehren, wolf -listening docent) Hermiston
