ANOTHER DANCE AROUND MARIJUANA

Oregonians Will Be Asked This Fall to Approve an Expansion of
Medicinal Pot; If Marijuana Backers Were More Forthright, They'd Call
the Question on Legalization

Let the charades begin: Another "medical marijuana" measure is coming
to the fall ballot.

Of course, the advocates insist that the sprawling legalized network
of marijuana dispensaries envisioned by Initiative 28 is all about
providing compassionate and convenient "medicine" to Oregonians who
suffer from such things as glaucoma, nausea from cancer treatment and
the wasting associated with HIV/AIDs.

Never mind that of the 36,380 Oregon "patients" who now hold cards
that protect them from state prosecution for smoking marijuana, 534
reported suffering from glaucoma, while 32,614 checked the box for
"severe pain" as one of their qualifying medical conditions. Anyone
over the age of 18 with a doctor's note that says they can benefit
from smoking marijuana can apply to the Oregon Health Division for a
card.

We're not yet prepared to take a position on this or any other ballot
measure on the fall ballot. Yes, there may be a compelling case to be
made for giving Oregonians with legitimate medical needs more
convenient access to marijuana. However, the whole wink-and-nod farce
that has characterized the politics of medical marijuana has become
downright offensive.

Frankly, we'd much rather have the kind of open, intellectually honest
debate they're having now down in Oakland, Calif, where the City
Council just voted 5-2 to license four huge marijuana farms of up to
100,000 square feet apiece, and plan to use the tax revenue to close a
$83 million city deficit this year. At least Californians, who have
already had the pleasant high of seeing marijuana dispensaries crowd
into mini-malls and storefronts in communities all across their
states, are having an honest-to-goodness vote in November on
legalizing recreational use of marijuana.

After all, that's what this is about. Forget the euphemisms -- what
after all, is a "dispensary" anyway? It's a store the state legally
entitles to sell pot. What's going on here is nothing more or less
than a backdoor effort to expand marijuana use while dancing gingerly
around federal law that still prohibits the production, distribution
and use of the drug.

Why not call the real question? Maybe a majority of Oregonians believe
marijuana ought to be the legal and social equivalent of alcohol --
produced and sold openly, regulated and taxed. Jeffrey Miron, a
Harvard economist, has estimated that marijuana prohibition costs the
nation $7 billion in tax revenue, not to mention the costs of the
futile effort to police it. Maybe Oregonians want a piece of that for
their underfunded schools and state government.

But then why continue the medical marijuana charade? Why all these
"dispensaries" and this facade of regulation, such as the prohibition
of anyone convicted of a felony crime in the past five years from
getting a license to open his or her marijuana store? Does that mean
someone just finishing up a hitch of six years or more in Oregon State
Prison for assault or rape would be a fine proprietor of your
neighborhood marijuana dispensary? Who knows? Who cares?

Not supporters of Initiative 28. Ultimately, their measure isn't about
medical marijuana or people suffering with glaucoma or nausea. It's
about moving ever closer to a future of legalized recreational use of
marijuana. If they are so certain that would be good for Oregonians,
they ought to have the courage to call the question.