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 SOUR GRAPES? I took exception to the vociferous complaints of John Kirkpatrick of the International Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades regarding pollution of the Willamette River by the contractors performing the work on the Hawthorne Bridge ["Trouble over Bridged Waters" WW, Sept. 2, 1998]. First, the contractors, Abhe & Svoboda, are doing more than what is required of them to contain the sandblasting operation. That should be obvious to anyone willing to open their eyes or check the available records. Secondly, his statement regarding the deck grating being painted with leaded paint needs a bit more research. The deck is made of galvanized steel (has he ever even crossed the bridge in question?). As for safety concerns, all contractors are human, and sometimes individuals may find it oppressively hot in a hard hat or too restrictive in a harness, etc., and it is up to the job superintendent to ensure that all workers follow all rules. However, let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I'd be interested in seeing if Mr. Kirkpatrick's safety record is clean as a whistle. That is if he's ever even run a project... Obviously this whole issue is one of a disgruntled union trying to discredit Abhe & Svoboda because the union couldn't get their greasy paws on the bucks from this project. One final note: An open-grated bridge deck (of which there are several in PDX) continually dumps much more crap into the Willamette River from vehicles (grease, oil, rubber, brake-lining dust, exhaust residue, gasoline, paint flakes, undercoating) than could possibly be leaking by the careful eyes of the inspectors on this job. T. Adams Southwest Lincoln Street   originally published September 9, 1998