IT'S TIME TO SET THE WHEELS IN MOTION

TWO VIEWS . Does legalizing marijuana make financial sense, or is it
the way to ruin?

It is time. It is obvious. No one in Salem is talking about it. They
should. If legislators return for a special session, they should take
immediate action.

Here's the idea. It's not mine. It's not fresh. It bucks conventional
wisdom. That's exactly what Oregon needs.

Legalize marijuana and tax it. Put the revenue generated from the
sales and the money saved from ending absurd marijuana-related
prosecutions and incarcerations into the general fund. Or earmark the
dollars for rebuilding the many things in Oregon on the verge of a
quick, ugly collapse.

The point is to tap the underground marijuana economy. It is worth
millions. Drill it hard, and drill it deep. Strike leafy green. Then
start another drill into law enforcement agencies' marijuana-related
budgets. Let them keep the money for legitimate public safety needs,
and when U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft comes calling, take him
on. This is Oregon, man! In 1973 we were the first state to
decriminalize marijuana. Later we rejected a ballot measure to
re-criminalize it. We also passed a medical marijuana law. It's in our
lungs! It should be legally in our fields.

The question is not whether marijuana should be legalized. The
question is how it should be legalized. In the recent past, several
ballot measures have asked Oregonians if they wanted to make pot
legal. These have been fringe-led efforts that were ill-conceived.
They all failed. This time the stakes are higher. Everybody knows this
except the people who make laws. Thus, I call upon the Oregon
Legislature and Gov. Kulongoski to pass and sign a law establishing
the Oregon Marijuana Legalization Commission. Let it get to work, and
get out of its way.

This body would meet this fall, study the idea and make
recommendations on every aspect of legalization, from potency to
market or state-controlled distribution. The commission also would
present a slate of referendums providing Oregon voters with ballot
options on how marijuana is to be legalized and taxed, and how the
revenue will be spent. Each referendum should have a sunset provision
so it can be revisited.

Let the people decide. They have said no to income and sales taxes.
This would be a user fee, plain and simple.

I volunteer to serve on this commission. Recently, I heard Sen. Ken
Messerle, R-Coos Bay, say in Salem that he believes the way to fix
Oregon is to get rural Oregonians working. Senator, I agree.
Legalization would be an absolute boon to the state's rural economies.
It would explode like craft breweries and bakeries did in the '90s.
Senator, get on board.

I live in rural Oregon, too, and I agree with the necessity of getting
rural Oregonians re-engaged with the natural resources economy. But
this time it has to be something new, unsubsidized and free from
environmental group lawsuits.

I know what many of you are thinking. The health risks, right? Let me
offer a visual rebuttal. As I write this from an Oregon tavern, a man
is halfway through a pack of cigarettes, on his third pint of ale,
chasing it with coffee and pumping dead presidents into a video poker
machine. The state allows him to do this and allows advertising to
persuade him to do it more. Furthermore, I would love to see what
prescription pain-relieving medications he has lined up in his
medicine cabinet.

Oregonians, kill the double standard. Murder the hypocrisy. Let common
sense prevail. Get government off marijuana smokers' backs and into
their pockets. We need less government to fund more government.