Page 12A
NATION/WORLD
East Oregonian
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Congress warms to medical
marijuana for veterans
AP Photo/Amr Nabil
The Imam of al Thawrah Mosque, Samir Abdel Bary, gives condolences to ilm di-
rector Osman Abu Laban, center, who lost four relatives, all victims of Thursday’s
EgyptAir plane crash, following prayers for the dead in Cairo, Egypt, Friday.
Searchers ind body parts,
seats, luggage from Egyptian jet
CAIRO (AP) — Search
crews found loating human
remains, luggage and seats
from the doomed EgyptAir
jetliner Friday but face a
potentially more complex task
in locating bigger pieces of
wreckage and the black boxes
vital to determining why the
plane plunged into the Medi-
terranean.
An aviation industry publi-
cation, meanwhile, reported
that sensors detected smoke
in a lavatory, suggesting a ire
onboard before the aircraft
went down.
Looking for clues to
Secret Service
shoots armed man
near White House
WASHINGTON (AP) —
A U.S. Secret Service oficer
shot a man with a gun who
approached a checkpoint
outside the White House on
Friday afternoon and refused
to drop his weapon, the
Secret Service said.
The White House was
briely placed on a security
alert after the shooting, which
happened within view of
sightseers as sidewalks were
crowded with families, school
groups and government
workers.
The armed man
approached the checkpoint on
E Street shortly after 3 p.m.,
and the oficer repeatedly
ordered the man to drop his
gun, but the man ignored
those commands, according
to a statement from David
Iacovetti, a Secret Service
deputy assistant director.
The oficer ired one shot
at the man, who was taken to
a hospital for treatment, and
the gun was recovered at the
scene, Iacovetti said.
The man was in critical
condition when he was
transported, a D.C. Fire and
EMS spokesman said.
President Barack Obama
was away playing golf at
the time, but Vice President
Joe Biden was in the White
House complex and was
secured during the lockdown,
his ofice said. The lockdown
was lifted about an hour after
the shooting.
The gunman never made
it inside the White House
complex, and no one else was
injured, the Secret Service
said.
At NRA, Trump
slams Clinton for
‘heartless’ gun
restrictions
LOUISVILLE, Ky.
(AP) — Donald Trump on
Friday slammed Hillary
Clinton as “heartless” for
backing restrictions on
gun ownership that he said
would leave Americans in
high-crime areas unable to
protect themselves. He also
challenged Clinton to follow
his lead and release a list
of potential Supreme Court
nominees.
Trump’s remarks
came at the National Rile
Association convention in
Louisville, Kentucky. The
gun rights organization
endorsed the presumptive
Republican nominee ahead
of his remarks, despite
Trump’s previous support
for measures like an assault
weapons ban that the NRA
vigorously opposes.
The businessman has
taken a far less restrictive
stance on guns during the
Republican presidential
whether terrorists brought
down EgyptAir Flight 804
and its 66 people aboard,
investigators pored over the
passenger list and questioned
ground crew members at
Charles de Gaulle Airport in
Paris, where the plane took
off.
The Airbus A320 had been
cruising normally in clear
skies on a nighttime light to
Cairo early Thursday when
it suddenly lurched left, then
right, spun all the way around
and plummeted 38,000 feet
into the sea, never issuing a
distress signal.
BRIEFLY
primary. His call for ending
“gun-free zones” across the
country was enthusiastically
welcomed by the NRA
crowd.
Trump centered his
remarks on Clinton, claiming
she would seek to “abolish”
the Second Amendment
through the Supreme Court
and release violent criminals
if elected president. He also
called her “Heartless Hillary”
— a new nickname from the
branding expert for the likely
Democratic nominee — for
backing restrictions aimed at
reducing gun deaths, saying
her proposals would instead
leave law-abiding citizens
exposed to criminals.
“She’s putting the most
vulnerable Americans in
jeopardy,” Trump said. He
added that women in particular
would be at risk, a nod to what
he’s said will be a security-fo-
cused appeal to women in the
general election.
Trump heads into the fall
campaign with stunningly
high disapproval ratings
with women. The supremely
conident Trump appeared to
acknowledge that weakness,
saying that while his poll
numbers with men are strong,
“I like women more than
men.”
“Come on women, come
on,” he said.
Oklahoma
governor vetoes
bill criminalizing
abortion
OKLAHOMA CITY
(AP) — Oklahoma Gov.
Mary Fallin on Friday vetoed
legislation to make it a felony
for doctors to perform an
abortion, a measure that
would have effectively
outlawed the procedure in the
state.
In vetoing the measure just
a day after the Legislature
passed it, Fallin, a Republican
who opposes abortion, said
it was vague and would not
withstand a legal challenge.
“The bill is so ambiguous
and so vague that doctors
cannot be certain what
medical circumstances would
be considered ‘necessary
to preserve the life of the
mother,’” Fallin said. “While I
consistently have and continue
to support a re-examination
of the United States Supreme
Court’s decision in Roe v.
Wade, this legislation cannot
accomplish that re-examina-
tion.”
The bill’s sponsor, Repub-
lican Sen. Nathan Dahm,
said the measure was aimed
at ultimately overturning
the U.S. Supreme Court’s
1973 decision that legalized
abortion nationwide.
Dahm said he was consid-
ering whether to try to override
the governor’s veto, which
would require a two-thirds
majority in each chamber, a
threshold it did not meet in the
In Egypt, home to 30 of
the victims, grieving families
and friends wondered if their
loved ones would ever be
recovered. Many gathered in
mosques for Salat al-Ghaib, or
“prayers for the absent,” held
for the dead whose bodies
have not been found.
“This is what is ripping our
hearts apart, when we think
about it. When someone you
love so much dies, at least
you have a body to bury. But
we have no body until now,”
said Sherif al-Metanawi, a
childhood friend of the pilot,
Mohammed Shoukair.
House when it irst passed. The
bill passed on a 33-12 vote in
the Senate with no debate on
Thursday; it passed 59-9 in the
101-member House on April
21.
“Of course I’ll consider
it,” Dahm said. “I’m
weighing my options.”
The bill would have made
it a felony punishable by up
to three years in prison for
anyone who performs an
abortion, including doctors.
State law already makes it a
felony for anyone who’s not a
doctor to perform an abortion,
and Dahm’s bill would have
removed the exemption for
physicians.
DENVER (AP) —
Congress is showing an
increased willingness to let
VA doctors talk to veterans
about medical marijuana
in states where it’s legal,
although inal approval is far
from certain.
The House approved
a measure this week that
would let Veterans Affairs
Department doctors help
their patients sign up for
state medical marijuana
programs, something the VA
now prohibits.
“I’m certainly open to
it,” Rep. Mike Coffman,
a Republican and former
Marine from pot-friendly
Colorado, said Friday.
A Senate committee
approved a similar measure
last month but the full Senate
hasn’t voted.
Medical marijuana is now
legal in 23 states and the
District of Columbia, but pot
remains illegal under federal
law. Arguments for medical
marijuana are getting a
warmer reception from
lawmakers amid nationwide
concerns about overuse
and abuse of prescription
painkillers and psychotropic
drugs.
Coffman, chairman of
a House Veterans Affairs
subcommittee on oversight
and investigations, said he
wasn’t enthusiastic when his
Jamie Lusch/The Medford Mail Tribune
This May 11 photo shows
marijuana plants at a
home near the Green
Springs, Ore.
state irst approved medical
marijuana. But if the drug
helps veterans deal with
post-traumatic stress, it could
reduce the use of stronger
prescription drugs and save
taxpayers money, he said.
The
measures
in
Congress wouldn’t permit
the VA to provide patients
with marijuana, Coffman
said. It would only free
doctors to talk about it with
their patients.
Rep. Earl Blumenaur,
D-Ore., who sponsored the
House measure, said medical
marijuana could be safer and
more effective than other
drugs for veterans suffering
from chronic pain or the
stress disorder.
Providing access to pot as
an alternative “is critical at a
time when our veterans are
dying with a suicide rate 50
percent higher than civilians
and opiate overdoses at
nearly double the national
average,” Blumenaur said in
a written statement.
Research on whether
marijuana helps with PTSD
has been contradictory
and limited, and the VA
has warned that increasing
numbers of veterans who
suffer from it have become
dependent on pot.
The VA didn’t immedi-
ately respond Friday to a
request for comment on the
proposals in Congress.
Congress has killed
similar measures in the past,
but backers say the proposals
are attracting more votes this
time. Blumenaur’s measure
passed Wednesday 233-189,
including 57 Republicans in
favor.
Coffman’s subcommittee
held a hearing in Denver
Friday on problems in the
way the VA prescribes and
keeps track of drugs.
He cited the case of a
pharmacy technician at the
Denver VA Medical Center
who oficials said was found
in an operating room trying
to inject herself with a pain-
killer stolen from a hospital
refrigerator.
"Scramble for
Scholarships"
Friday,
June 10th
1pm Shotgun Start
Big River Golf Course - Umatilla
Golfers of all skill levels are being invited to participate in the 23 rd annual
"Scramble for Scholarships" golf tournament. Four person teams can sign
up together or individuals pairings can be made by the tournament
committee. Your $70 entry fee covers green fees, a box lunch at noon, and
BBQ at the end, plus makes a charitable donation to the foundation to use
in awarding scholarships for local health care students.
Join us for a fun afternoon of golf for a good cause by calling 541-667-3405.
Entry deadline is June 8th.
Great prize holes and Hole-in-one on #1 wins a Ford Fusion sponsored by Tom Denchel Ford