PASSING PUFFING POLICE PROHIBITIONS

With some amusement, I read a story in Tuesdays Sun regarding a group
called "Sensible Portland" which is seeking to have a blind eye toward
marijuana possession attitude codified into Portland statutes.

First off, we haven't got the MEDICAL marijuana thing straightened out
yet. The alleged clinic for Cumberland County shows no signs of
opening. They now promise to open "Late Spring," according to their
website. (I'm referring to it as "alleged" for a simple reason. The
"FOR RENT" sign is still up in the location chosen, despite this city
passing "emergency" zoning approval in June of LAST YEAR.)

Fix the sick folks first, folks.

Then, there is that whole sticky issue regarding federal law. Asking
the city council to turn a blind eye to federal law is problematic,
but the act of trying to get the city to put that position in wet ink
for the police chief, his officers, and the COUNTY Sheriff's office to
"look the other way" is not only risky, but stupid. Say goodbye to any
grant funding from the hinterlands of D.C. if this happens.

Essentially, this group is asking Portland Police officers and the
County Sheriff's office to look the other way, and risk a possible
prison sentence in a FEDERAL poke-you-in-the-posterior penitentiary.
Pretty sure not many of the officers in question are up for that, just
so you can puff-'n'-pass in public.

If you don't like the law, change it. If you can't get the law changed
due to an entrenched power structure, vote the knuckleheads out of
office . If you can't vote them out, go around whatever committee they
happen to be on. Repeat as needed. Or, use the old "D.C. Two-Step" and
attach your legalization bill to some nitwittery designed to bring
relief for indigent puppies and kittens.

Stealing a bit from the story, Trevorrow said she's talked to several
people who said they thought that marijuana possession was already a
low priority for police.

"That may or may not be the case in Portland today ... but nothing in
City Code says it has to be," she said in an email. "We want to codify
the practice."

Lower priority than say, restaurant inspections? A recent report in
the Forecaster cited that some restaurants in Portland have not had
the annually required inspection in four years. But I guess it's OK to
look the other way on that, right? It's just something you are putting
into your body, that someone else sold you.

Lower priority than the legislature mandating that "texting behind the
wheel" bill be passed into law? I've never met anyone high that was in
the least way distracted, I really haven't.

Supporters claim this is about setting "sensible marijuana policy" for
Portland. This from a city that decided to ban smoking in all bars and
restaurants, as well as public parks. The sensible part of the policy
is simple. Don't act like a douche, and you won't get hassled. I
regularly walk Baxter Boulevard, smoking all the way to pick up my
groceries. But I don't wave it under peoples face. I meet harsh looks
with an evil glare.

Perhaps those that are getting hassled should be told the story of an
acquaintance of mine years back. He paid for most of his college and
the down payment on his house acting as a "mule." Never got arrested,
not even once. He didn't act like an idiot.

"I think police are spending too much time focusing on
marijuana-related offenses," said Whitley Newman, a supporter of the
ordinance. "We are trying to get the focus pointed more toward violent
crime, and this is a step in the right direction."

Perhaps they are, but got any data on that? Something that, well, a
public that is disposed to chewing on things called facts could chomp
on for a bit? Of the last 10 assaults I've seen in Portland, 8 of them
involved loud conversations about drug deals gone dirty. The other 2
involved alleged infidelity. To give you a good background, that is in
about a six-month period.

Asking the police to look the other way is wrong. Telling them to do
so is one of those particularly bad ideas on par with playing drunken
lawn darts. Next thing you know, they might overlook the odd bit of
domestic violence as just an argument.

Bob Dylan's birthday this week brought to mind one of his famous
quotes. "To live outside the law, you must be honest." I doubt folks
getting "hassled" have that issue.

But there was a better quote. "Nothing is more destructive of respect
for the government and the law of the land than passing laws which
cannot be enforced. It is an open secret that the dangerous increase
of crime in this county is closely related with this." Don't recognize
it? Funny guy, big mustache, frizzy hair. Named Albert Einstein.

I anxiously await the arrival of the next bad idea.