The Oregonian Endorses Recrim To Send "A Clearer Message" –
Yes, That Students Will Lose Their Federal Aid

(Marijuananews note: This was expected. The Oregonian propagandized for the legislature to pass the recrim bill last year. The Oregonina is hiding the fact that under new federal laws Oregon students convicted of possessing marijuana could loose their student loans for a year. Will disrupting a young person’s education help them?)
See
Clinton Signs Law Denying Student Aid To Marijuana Smokers NORML Press Release October 8)

October 22, 1998
From The Oregonian
letters@news.oregonian.com
http://www.oregonlive.com/

OREGONIAN ENDORSEMENT - INCREASE MARIJUANA PENALTY

Making Pot Possession More Than A Traffic Ticket Sends A Clearer Message To

Oregon Young People

When Oregon legislators approved a new, slightly stronger penalty for marijuana possession last year, they were acknowledging that times have changed.

Back in 1973 when legislators reduced the penalties for marijuana possession to the level of traffic tickets, they were responding mainly to old laws that overreacted to the crime of marijuana possession. They also were reacting to the prevailing scientific and social opinion at the time that suggested marijuana was safe and non-addictive.
See
Is marijuana really harmless, like everyone has been saying?

They were right about the old penalties, but they turned out to be wrong about the science.

In the past decade, scientists have discovered that marijuana is addictive.

See
The Relative Addictiveness of Drugs According to NIDA's Own Researcher
and
"Tremendous Increase In The Number Of Dutch Cannabis Users Asking For Help"
Swedish Prohibitionists Claim

There also is evidence that marijuana smoke poses many of the same health risks—cancer, lung damage—that other forms of smoking pose.
(Marijuananews note: Should possession of tobacco by adults be criminalized? If not, then what message does this send?)

The last Legislature moved to "recriminalize" marijuana by increasing its status as an offense from a violation—the equivalent of a traffic ticket -- to a Class C misdemeanor—the equivalent of being a minor in possession of alcohol. Opponents forced it to the ballot and now voters must say, by deciding on Ballot Measure 57 on Nov. 3, whether they approve the change.

Voters should just say yes. "Recriminalizing" pot sends the message society should send—especially to young people.

The other thing that has changed in the past decade has been the frequency with which young people use marijuana. A study conducted by the Regional Drug Initiative in Portland indicated that the percentage of Oregon eighth graders who said they used marijuana within the past 30 days rose from 6 percent in 1992 to 15 percent in 1996. One reason for the increase is the mixed message that comes from treating possession as an inconsequential matter.
(Marijuananews note: During this time millions of marijuana users have been arrested in the rest of the country and marijuana use has also gone up in other states.)
See
Associated Press Reports Uncritically On A Partnership For A Drug-Free America Survey On Kids’ Marijuana Use
and
Legalize Marijuana and Reduce Use?
New Survey Puts Estimate of Dutch Marijuana Use Even More Below DEAland

The move would make those convicted subject to greater—but hardly draconian—penalties and make it clear that marijuana possession is serious business.