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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (June 24, 2017)
Page 4A OPINION East Oregonian Saturday, June 24, 2017 Founded October 16, 1875 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor MARISSA WILLIAMS Regional Advertising Director MARCY ROSENBERG Circulation Manager JANNA HEIMGARTNER Business Office Manager MIKE JENSEN Production Manager EO MEDIA GROUP East Oregonian • The Daily Astorian • Capital Press • Hermiston Herald Blue Mountain Eagle • Wallowa County Chieftain • Chinook Observer • Coast River Business Journal Oregon Coast Today • Coast Weekend • Seaside Signal • Cannon Beach Gazette Eastern Oregon Real Estate Guide • Eastern Oregon Marketplace • Coast Marketplace OnlyAg.com • FarmSeller.com • Seaside-Sun.com • NorthwestOpinions.com • DiscoverOurCoast.com OUR VIEW Early results in city’s cannabis experiment Marijuana has been legal for adults marijuana off the street and put an to ingest and possess in Oregon for alleged dealer behind bars, the local two years, and in Pendleton it has legal shops reported a boost in sales. been legal to sell — pending a state That would seem to indicate many and city permit — for six months. users were only willing to turn to Some things have changed in that a dispensary when an illicit source time while others have not. went out of commission. In some ways, the lack of change That’s economics, of course. A is a good thing. Legalizing a harmful shop with overhead like rent and substance has not caused our society bills and a 20 percent tax taken off to crumble, and the top will have to capitalism and charge more for the humanity have Long-term cultural product. continued to move But in the effects are still forward unabated long term, we in Round-Up City think legalizing unknown, but and the Beaver marijuana will State. The hospital a debilitating early indications have hasn’t seen a effect on the black rise in children market. There is no are promising. accidentally car parked outside ingesting edibles, your local liquor and motor vehicle crashes attributed store offering knock-off hooch at a to THC impairment haven’t spiked. discounted price out of the trunk, Long-term cultural effects are still and by and large restaurants follow the OLCC licensing process before unknown, but early indications are serving wine and beer. promising. The comparison between the two A positive change is the local intoxicants isn’t perfect. Growing public safety budget. More tax marijuana is certainly easier than dollars are going into public coffers — $25,000 directly to the city, based brewing or distilling from home, and the law is generous in how much an on budget predictions — and fewer individual can harvest. An enthusiast tax dollars are being spent in law with a green thumb could legally enforcement and the courts to chase down a marginally harmful substance cultivate more than enough cannabis to cover his needs and those of his and punish those who choose to use friends year-round, as long as he’s it. None of that will fix all that ails not selling what he’s growing. the city, but it’s cold cash for a city But eventually, if legal with bills to pay. dispensaries offer a safe place to But in other, more harmful ways, shop with good customer service things remain the same. and a good product, more users will The black market has yet to be migrate that way and be willing eliminated in Pendleton, costing city and state taxpayers money, as well as to pay more to know what they’re getting and having the satisfaction of local above-board business owners. not breaking the law while doing it. It’s the black market folks who are Marijuana isn’t working perfectly much more likely to sell to minors, or yet, but big change takes time. It’s have harder drugs to offer alongside their marijuana. They’re drug dealers worth watching, and we remain of the opinion that youth access to the after all. drug should be serious concern — as After a local bust last month it is with alcohol and tobacco. that took a substantial amount of 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 Legislature should support rural public transit By JEANINE GORDON Kayak Public Transit K AYAK Public Transit, operated by the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, is a rural, regional transit system serving Eastern Oregon and Southeastern Washington. The brand KAYAK was inspired by a Cayuse/Nez Perce word, “K’ay’ak,” which means “to be free of obstructions.” Riders overcome the obstacles of both cost and distance because KAYAK Public Transit provides fare-free transit service with the help of tribal, local, state, and federal funding sources. But state support for rural transit has never been a priority despite the economic benefit to our communities. Until now. The Legislature now has an opportunity to improve our region’s transit system with HB 2017. It’s a landmark bill that would provide dedicated state funding for transportation across Oregon, specifically including earmarked funds for transit. These critical investments will carry us strongly into the next decade. Kayak Public Transit is open to everyone. Our buses transport tribal and non-tribal community members with a fixed-route system connecting people in two states, four counties, and 17 communities creating a vital lifeline for residents in rural Oregon. Kayak Public Transit riders are workers, seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, and families. Transit allows our neighbors and friends to safely get to work, college, health care appointments and more. Rural transit is unique because the primary systems across Oregon are in metropolitan areas. But regardless of address, sometimes people are unable to drive or don’t have access to a vehicle. The money public transit riders save on fuel and vehicle wear and tear can be spent at places of business in our communities. Likewise, transit reduces the number of vehicles on the road and allows for improved freight mobility. At the end of the day, public transportation boosts our local economies, elevates air quality and offers a range of choices for those who can’t find housing in the city where they work. These are not the only benefits of public transportation, however. Public transit is a safe transportation option for commuters and passengers who would normally travel by car on rural roads and highways, thereby decreasing vehicle congestion and the accident probability rate. What could dedicated funding mean to KAYAK and riders if HB 2017 passes? KAYAK’s turn-around times on major routes could drop by half from the current 2-4 hours to 1-2 hours; service between Umatilla and Tri- Cities could be re-established; service with other transit providers in the Columbia Gorge could allow riders to travel from Ontario to Portland; and transportation for employees to and from the Port of Morrow could be a possibility, and that’s only the beginning. HB 2017 would deliver a much needed shot in the arm to grow the transportation system that our Eastern Oregon communities rely on to thrive. If you want the Legislature to invest in Eastern Oregon, contact your legislators to say HB 2017 is the answer. ■ Jeanine Gordon is the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation’s program manager for Kayak Public Transit. OTHER VIEWS Opioids, a mass killer we’re meeting with a shrug A result in an additional 23 million bout as many Americans are Americans being uninsured in a expected to die this year of decade — and thus less able to get drug overdoses as died in the drug treatment. Other, more technical Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan wars elements of the GOP plan would also combined. result in less treatment. For more than 100 years, death rates have been dropping for Second, Tom Price, the secretary of Americans — but now, because of health and human services, last month opioids, death rates are rising again. Nicholas seemed to belittle the medication We as a nation are going backward, Kristof treatments for opioid addiction that and drug overdoses are now the have the best record, and Attorney Comment leading cause of death for Americans General Jeff Sessions still seems to under 50. think we can jail our way out of the “There’s no question that there’s an problem. epidemic and that this is a national public Third, Trump’s main step has been to health emergency,” Dr. Leana Wen, the health appoint Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey commissioner of Baltimore, told me. “The to lead a task force to investigate opioid number of people overdosing is skyrocketing, addiction. But we needn’t waste more time and we have no indication that investigating, for we know we’ve reached the peak.” what to do — and in any case Yet our efforts to address Christie talks a good game but this scourge are pathetic. bungled the issue in his home We responded to World state. War II with the storming of Among experts, there’s Normandy, and to Sputnik overwhelming evidence of with our moon shot. Yet we what works best: medication answer this current national in conjunction with menace with … a Republican counseling. This doesn’t plan for health care that would succeed in every case, but deprive millions of insurance and lead to even it does reduce deaths and improve lives. It more deaths! also saves public money, because a result is More on President Donald Trump’s fewer emergency room visits and inpatient fumbling of this problem in a moment. hospital stays. So the question isn’t whether But it’s bizarre that Republicans should be we can afford treatment for all people fighting complacent about opioids, because the toll addiction, but whether we can afford not to is disproportionately in red states — and it provide it. affects everyone. The bottom line is that we need a major Mary Taylor, the Republican lieutenant national public health initiative to treat as governor of Ohio and now a candidate for many Americans abusing drugs as possible, governor, has acknowledged that both her with treatment based on science and evidence. sons, Joe and Michael, have struggled with We also need to understand that drug opioid addiction, resulting in two overdoses at overdoses are symptoms of deeper malaise — home, urgent calls for ambulances and failed “deaths of despair,” in the words of Anne Case drug rehab efforts. Good for her for speaking and Angus Deaton of Princeton University, up. stemming from economic woes — and seek to It should be a national scandal that address the underlying issues. only 10 percent of Americans with opioid Above all, let’s show compassion. problems get treatment. This reflects our failed Addiction is a disease, like diabetes and high insistence on treating opioids as a criminal blood pressure. We would never tell diabetics justice problem rather than as a public health to forget medication and watch their diets and crisis. exercise more — and we would be aghast A Times investigation published this month if only 10 percent of diabetics were getting estimated that more than 59,000 Americans lifesaving treatment. died in 2016 of drug overdoses, in the largest Innumerable people with addictions whom annual jump in such deaths ever recorded in I’ve interviewed haunt me. One was a nurse the U.S. One reason is the spread of fentanyl, who became dependent on prescription a synthetic opioid that is cheap and potent, painkillers and was fired when she was caught leading to overdoses. stealing painkillers from a hospital. She Another bad omen: As a nation, we’re became homeless and survived by providing still hooked on prescription painkillers. sex to strangers in exchange for money or Last year, there were more than 236 million drugs. prescriptions written for opioids in the United She wept as she told me her story, for she States — that’s about one bottle of opioids for was disgusted with what she had become — every American adult. but we as a society should be disgusted by our Even with all that’s at stake, there are three own collective complacency, by our refusal to reasons to doubt that Trump will confront the help hundreds of thousands of neighbors who problem. are sick and desperate for help. First, Trump and Republicans in Congress ■ seem determined to repeal Obamacare, which Nicholas Kristof grew up on a sheep and provides for addiction treatment, and slash cherry farm in Yamhill. A columnist for The Medicaid. The Congressional Budget Office New York Times since 2001, he won the estimated that the GOP House plan would Pulitzer Prize two times, in 1990 and 2006. We need a major national public health initiative. YOUR VIEWS Fire bond rate as advertised The letter “Fire tax bond higher than advertised by city” is just not true. You can verify this by reading the voters pamphlet for yourself. It states that “The bonds are estimated to cost approximately 62 cents per $1,000 of assessed property value.” The speaking points that I was asked to provide involved the county bond being paid off in 2016 along with a city of Pendleton bond being paid in the same year. The two bonds equaled 48 cents per $1,000, creating a net cost to the taxpayer of 14 cents. This was strictly talking points and to my knowledge never advertised as the rate to be charged. The information was also placed in the voters’ pamphlet as talking points. It is unfortunate that embittered perceptions choose to never see any good or the efforts to improve our community. Please take the time to learn the facts for yourself and don’t let the misguided information portray the reality. Paul Chalmers Pendleton Criticism comes with territory I would suggest that Mayor John Turner check with his city attorney before he rebukes a citizen at a public hearing. As a public servant, your rights concerning libel and other items are much different. If this person wants to call you a disgusting thief, he can. Just ask the politicians in the big city. You owe him an apology, Mr. Mayor. JL Humphrey Pendleton 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.
