Comments

1
I just don't think the government has any right to regulate something I can harmlessly grow in my back yard or closet and then consume at my own discretion, be it for medicinal purposes or to simply relax. So, how shall I vote? Does it matter since I don't recognize the law as valid anyway?
2
"There's not a lot of things that we're in favor of the government regulating"

I almost spit up sweettarts after reading that.
3
I thought I had pick up the Willy Week instead when I read the Merc today.
4
What I find distasteful about the medical marijuana debate is that it, more often than not, seems to be what pro-pot advocates are pursuing instead of all-out legalization.

I'm in favor of legalizing marijuana, if only because the police, courts, and prisons have better things to do. I don't know how useful marijuana actually is as medicine- there are plenty of legal painkillers and opiates already out there that seem to work dandy- but it seems to be that the primary aim of medical marijuana is not so much to provide people with medicine, but to create a larger social acceptance of the drug.

A much more honest debate to have would just be a straight-up debate on whether pot should be legal or not. That is the ballot measure that really should be in front of us. Oregon would do better to vote on marijuana up or down (like California is doing) than to go through the charade approving it as medicine.

Again, I'm all for legalization. Debating weed as a form of medicine, though, seems like the wrong debate to have.
5
Medicinal cannabis just makes ganja weird. What evs, medheads. Regulation is even weirder. Tom Potter?! Legalization is the real no-bullshit answer. I don't believe M74 will pass. I voted yes anyways. I hope it doesn't pass.
6
Not sure if the No on 74 is a weak effort at contrarianism or if wonkish zeal has led the Merc to actually believe its own bullshit when it comes to the myth of a "better" regulatory system.
I'm with Joe. Just legalize the shit already.
7
DISCLAIMER: I don't smoke pot. I haven't touched the stuff since my nineteenth birthday - August 16, 1977 - which, coincidentally, was the day that Elvis Presley died. I always tell people that Elvis and I quit drugs at the very same time, the only difference being that I did so voluntarily.

Having said that, let me say this:

Nearly three-quarters-of-a-century after it was made illegal; half-a-century after it was proven to be practically harmless - why is it still a crime to possess and smoke marijuana?

Here is a list of ten famous people - heavy smokers all - who died as a result of nicotine abuse:

Humphrey Bogart
Edward R. Murrow
Nat King Cole
George Harrison
John Huston
Noel Coward
Betty Grable
Walt Disney
Gary Cooper
Peter Jennings

Here is another list. Ten famous people who died from alcoholism:

Tennessee Williams
Jack Kerouac
Truman Capote
Lorenz Hart
Veronica Lake
Bix Beiderbecke
Montgomery Clift
Dylan Thomas
John Barrymore
Errol Flynn

Now I'm going to ask you to name for me one celebrity who has died from too much grass.

Go on, I'm waiting.....

You couldn't do it, could you? No, neither could I. Not only have I never heard of anyone dying in that matter, I am not aware of it happening in all recorded human history! Why, in 2010, are we still having this stupid conversation?

Is it a "gateway drug" as they never tire of reminding us? Yeah, it probably is. But so is Pabst Blue Ribbon. Let's get a grip here.

http://www.tomdegan.blogspot.com

Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
8
There are miore than 20 dispensaries operating NOW in Oregon, with no regulation. If Measure 74 doesn't pass, they will continue to work with no regulation. The legislature has refused to touch this issue over and over. It is time to provide safe regulated access to legally produced medical marijuana.
9
seriously? is weed still illegal? is it the 1940's? people are smoking this shit on the streets. and the state is broke. just legalize and tax this shit already. it's about as harmful as salt
10
@Tom Deegan - Ooo, boy, you really got us with that one. Because we haven't all heard it 1,000 times, since we were 8....
11
Reymont The Fascist is against legal pot in any form, by the way. It might not kill you, but it's addicting and it kills ambition. Put "I believe" in front of all these comments, of course - anecdotal evidence and heresy only, but until I personally run a double-blind, long term study, what else is there?

I've known a couple of dozen people who like to smoke up and have lost all their ambition, and zero people who haven't.

12
Reymont might as well have just said "I do all of my research in my bedroom with the blinds pulled." Absolutely fucking retarded blanket statement and no argument for why the government should be making your decisions for you. I suppose that you have never met an alcoholic.
13
Don't take it from me, folks take it from former Portland Mayor and Police Chief Tom Potter who says, "I do support Measure 74. It regulates medical marijuana."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGRVpvhuk7c

14
I don't understand M74. I thought there were already medical maryjane dispensaries in Oregon... There's one a few blocks from my house.
15
Reymont, I'm gonna tell my roommate to toss the Computer Engineer cert he got today and quit his government job. To stop trying to applying for those private sector large scale computer systems management positions that will increase his pay by up to $30k per year. Even if these companies keep reposting the jobs cause they can't find qualified candidates. I mean seriously, that asshole is ruining your research.
16
We suspect Merc's decision to oppose Measure 74 is probably personal or financial, since the reasons given make no sense...

One of the other anti-Measure 74 knuckleheads exposed the true motives of those opposing 74 this morning on Portland's "only progressive radio station," allegedly. Thanks goes out to Carl Wolfson for having the courage to point out some of the untruthful claims and misinformation about marijuana disseminated over many years by NIDA and the Partnership for a Drug Free America, which is one of those non-profit multi-million dollar organizations that his guest claimed to be afraid of. Ironically, the anti-marijuana guest's organization is a spin off from the 'Partnership for a Drug Free America which, ironically, was created with money from the alcohol industry and big pharma to specifically target cannabis. Medical marijuana has already had a significant negative effect on the profits of these industries over the last decade, and it's unlikely that this trend will change as more and more Americans will choose to self-medicate with marijuana.

What the guest also didn't explain, but seemed to confirmed by his rhetoric opposing Measure 74, is the question of where the extra medicine is going now? You can assume that some of this black market money is flowing into the pockets of some of these posters, as well as the Merc-

Carl's guest said this morning, theoretically speaking, if he only provides one or two ounces to each of his four patients at $60 for expenses, as he explained, and he can grow six mature plants for each patient, which takes about four months, then what is he doing with the other 60 ounces that he grew - with a street value of about $200,000? (An average indoor plant produces about 12 ounces based on three to four months of additional growth beyond twelve inches which is considered to be an immature plant. Each patient is allowed an additional eighteen immature plants.)

The answer is that the extra medical marijuana grown is being sold on the black market, often to the kids the guest, Kitzhaber, and the Merc claim to want to protect. He says he cares about how much medical marijuana patients pay for their medicine... I suspect he cares mostly about making a living and is paid to promote this sort of anti-marijuana propaganda...like some politicians and the corporate media- Having more growers, who they know are breaking the law by selling the extra medicine, means more business for the DA's and the prison industrial complex. You notice how much sympathy Mirk and Merc have for those (mostly men) who have paid their debt to society and want to work. Maybe Sarah Mirk wants a law that prohibits all male felons, even those who were isolated and abused until they agreed to sign a plea bargain, from ever working again. The only option left under the Mirk Plan is for felons to commit additional crimes to survive.

Why would any rational person not support a system that will significantly remove marijuana from the black market? This means, eventually there would probably be less neighborhood gardens, as more and more patients will choose a safe, consistent source of medicine over a grower who is giving them the "B grade stuff" and selling their extra pot to kids-
17
Let's take an honest look at the truth here. Cannabis is used for the treatment of pain and has been proven to eliminate cancerous tissue.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002…

What does our current medical system prescribe for pain? codeine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, dihydromorphine, pethidine!! What are these prescriptions you may ask? They are extremely potent isolates of synthetic OPIUM, MORPHINE AND HEROIN!!! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analgesic#Opi…

Cannabis has been proven to NOT cause lung cancer http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte… and that abuse or dependence is only correlated with a marginal percentage of the population with a genetic predisposition for those tendencies. In fact, a persons social enviornment nearly accounts for all instances of abuse which is not supprsing to me if for instance family members are alcoholics or rapists. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/conten…

Finally, Let me ask you! Even if marijuana led to high dependency rates. Would you rather your family members be addicted to Opium and Heroin derived pain killers which are proven to be lethal or would you rather them be addicted to a harmless herb?

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-0…

End this ignorance and fear feeding pharmaceutical lobbyist bullshit and demand your rights!!!

Choose Medical Cannabis!!!! The Safe Choice.
18
This mindless position will hurt real human beings. People are suffering at this very moment and that is not a "good enough" reason for Sarah Mirk and the Mercury? Shame on them.
19
I am 21 years old and suffer from Progressive relapsing multiple sclerosis. I use marijuana daily to aid in pain releif. Without marijuana, I would be taking MORPHINE or other narcotics 3 times daily. I'm sure it sounds "fine and dandy" for you, but I sure as hell am not going to take medication that is HIGHLY addictive, possible over dose and probable additional symptoms. Without marijuana, I would be in bed. I would be screaming out in pain. Without marijuana I would starve to death. My teeth hurt so painfully it prevents me from chewing food. My disease makes me so nauseated, I tend to vomit the food or can't eat it at all. Guess what? Marijuana has helped signifigently. It reduces inflamation, gives pain releif, increases metabolism and hunger. Now please, tell me that it doesn't help. You don't have MS, so don't judge people for wanting releif from their extremely painful diseases!!!!
STOP HURTING PATIENTS. WE DESERVE A SAFE DRUG.

Guess what also? It makes me smile. It makes my heart beat warmth. It makes me love.
Don't take that away, please.
20
I sure do hate the OLCC.

that is all.

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