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MEASURE 67 BAD / MEASURE 67 GOOD

Letters

MEASURE 67 BAD

While it was reassuring to hear the good Dr. Bayer say he is against
recreational use of marijuana ["Dope with Dignity," WW, Aug. 12,
1998], he apparently doesn't understand Measure 67 will allow exactly
that and much more. Careful reading of Ballot Measure 67 shows it
contains these provisions:

1. Allows doctors, massage therapists, tattoo artists, bartenders,
coffeehouse operators and others to grow and provide marijuana to
their clients with impunity.

2. Prevents state licensing boards from disciplining members of 134
occupations who grow and use marijuana (surgeons, truck drivers,
teachers, boilermakers, electricians, river pilots and others).

3. Does not require a person to visit a doctor to obtain marijuana
privileges.

4. Does not involve a written prescription.

5. Bypasses the protection of the FDA drug-approval process which is
based on scientific research.

6. Does not require a marijuana user to have a registration card in
order to be protected from legal consequences.

7. Allows marijuana use for conditions as vague as general ill
health.

8. Allows marijuana use for any other unspecified condition for which
a user chooses to request approval.

9. Allows marijuana possession in any amount.

10. Allows possession and use of hashish and concentrated hash
oil.

11. Provides protection against prosecution for other unspecified
criminal acts if marijuana is involved.

12. Allows Oregon prison inmates to use marijuana.

13. Allows Oregon children to legally use marijuana.

Marijuana use by Oregon eighth graders has tripled since 1990 and is
36 percent above national use levels. It is the number-one problem
drug for teenagers entering drug addiction treatment programs in
Oregon. Teens who use marijuana are six times more likely to bring
guns to school, four times more likely to physically attack another
person, three times more likely to engage in sex (unprotected), twice
as likely to attempt suicide and 85 times more likely to use cocaine.
As if we don't already have enough drug problems in Oregon, some
misguided persons want to add even more.

Measure 67 is not about medicine. It is about legalizing marijuana for
any Oregonian to use with impunity.

Voters who understand the impacts of Measure 67 will reject the
ill-conceived proposal.

Roger Burt
Southeast 17th Avenue

Patty Wentz responds: There are some points in Mr. Burt's letter that
need to be addressed.

1. Measure 67 does not allow public distribution of marijuana, and it
explicitly prohibits public smoking of marijuana. The only people who
will be exempted from state laws against possession and distribution
of marijuana will be the patients or approved primary caregivers.

2. The measure requires doctor approval before patients can apply to
the Oregon Health Division for a medical-marijuana card.

3. The debilitating conditions defined under the law are
specific.

4. The measure does not address hash or hashish oil, and it gives
specific quantity limits on marijuana possession. Patients arrested
possessing or growing more than the limit have to prove that their
medical conditions justify the larger quantities.

MEASURE 67 GOOD

Thank you for the interesting article about Dr. Richard Bayer and the
battle for physician and patient rights to use medical marijuana for
sick and dying people ["Dope with Dignity," WW, Aug. 12, 1998]. You
did a good job preparing your readers for this important debate.
Medical marijuana is a complex issue and an emotional one on both
sides. Learning the known medical facts and rebutting the myths and
propaganda we see and hear often will make this issue much easier to
decide.

God bless Dr. Bayer for his compassion for human suffering and courage
to stand up and speak the truth in the debate against the powerful
vested-interest opponents.

The scientific evidence and patient testimonies are persuasive. In
September 1988 Drug Enforcement Administration Administrative Law
Judge Francis L. Young, after reviewing the scientific studies and
taking testimony from patients for two years, issued a 69-page ruling.
Judge Young called marijuana "one of the safest therapeutically active
substances known to man" and recommended the drug be made legally
available for some medical purposes, including treatment of cancer
patients.

"The evidence in this record clearly shows that marijuana has been
accepted as capable of relieving the distress of great numbers of very
ill people, and doing so with safety under medical supervision," Judge
Young wrote. "It would be unreasonable, arbitrary and capricious for
the D.E.A. to continue to stand between those sufferers and the
benefits of this substance in light of the evidence in this record."

The Oregon Medical Marijuana Act will provide physicians, patients and
society a safe, natural and inexpensive solution to this controversial
question.

George N. Whittington
Southwest 10th Avenue

Checked-by: Pat Dolan