OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY CORVALLIS, OREGON 97331
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Corvallis Cannabis Movement receives support, new attitudes since medical law change By Emma-Kate Schaake THE DAILY BAROMETER
By Tori Hittner
THE DAILY BAROMETER
See PETITION | page 4
VOL. CXVI, NO. 126
Marijuana supporters to march
Cannabis Tax Act petitions hope to legalize private cannabis cultivation, possession
Two Oregon Cannabis Tax Act initiative petitions are circulating the state in an effort to legalize the private cultivation and possession of cannabis. Initiative 21 and 22 — conglomerated into one petition — must earn 87,213 valid signatures before it can be added to the November general state election ballot. Initiative 21 would legalize the personal production and consumption of cannabis, while Initiative 22 would establish regulation and tax guidelines. Possession would be limited to 24 ounces or plants per person. “Twenty-four ounces is not an arbitrary number,” said Jersey Deutsch in an OCTA media release. “If anything, the limits in place under Colorado and Washington law are unnecessarily low, and possibly detrimental for medical users who make their own medicine at home.” Deutsch serves as the campaign director of the Campaign for the Restoration and Regulation of Hemp, one of the petition’s official sponsors. Current Oregon law prohibits the
WEDNESDAY APRIL 30, 2014
COURTESY OF CORVALLIS CANNABIS MOVEMENT
The official poster for the Corvallis marijuana march Saturday.
The Corvallis Cannabis Movement is hosting a march Saturday to raise awareness for its campaign to legalize marijuana. Posters distributed around Corvallis encourage participants to “smoke before you come, keep it peaceful, have fun and be LOUD.” The group formed in 2009 under the legal movement, “Legalize Cannabis,” and they have seen growth in participation and interest since then. “The first time we had 50 people, and I’ve met hundreds since,” said Corvallis Cannabis Movement founder Eric Franklin. As a future goal, the movement wants to see marijuana legalized, but for now, the march is focused on spreading the word and speaking for those incarcerated for illegal use and for people with debilitating illnesses who use marijuana medicinally. “This is about standing up for people that can’t do it,” Franklin said. Since Oregon House bill 3460 passed and medical marijuana dispensaries have the opportunity to become legally licensed with the state, the Corvallis Cannabis Movement has gained traction. “I’m getting a lot more attention,” Franklin said. “Before we didn’t have a goal or anywhere to go.” Sarah Petersen, the administrative director of the Corvallis Cannabis Movement, joined Franklin’s team a few months ago, sparked by her own brother’s medical history. “I’m 100 percent behind the medical
marijuana movement,” Petersen said. “My brother has lymphoma and AIDS, and it has helped him a lot.” Now that Corvallis dispensaries are receiving their licenses, the movement has specific places to refer patients with inquiries. “We have a place to go to get people the results they need,” Franklin said. High Quality Compassion and The Healing Center are each a stop during the march, which begins at the Benton County Courthouse, winds through downtown and ends at Central Park. High Quality Compassion is the second licensed medical marijuana shop in Corvallis and is set for a soft opening Wednesday, while The Healing Center is still waiting for approval. “Everyone can come, and it’s an opportunity for the community to come see what it’s like,” said High Quality Compassion owner Brock Binder. Visitors will not need valid Oregon Medical Marijuana Patient cards Wednesday because there will be no medication on the premises. “It’s an opportunity for education,” Binder said. “They can get a little info on debilitating illnesses and how marijuana can help.” High Quality Compassion’s grand opening will be Friday, and marijuana will be available to cardholders, including those participating in the march Saturday. The participation of these dispensaries in the march marks the changes reflected by law and in the way conversations about marijuana use are taking place. “We are changing the way we are speaking for people; we are a lot more serious,” Franklin said. Emma-Kate Schaake
City reporter managing@dailybarometer.com
Professor’s award-winning book analyzes diversity Author, OSU assistant professor Stacey Smith reveals the myriad cultures that shaped the nation
“(The award-selection committee) picks which book best represents the spirit of the prize,” Smith said. “Although it doesn’t meet the specific qualifications, (the committee) wanted a book that dealt with race, class and gender in a meaningBy Ria Rankine ful way.” THE DAILY BAROMETER Montgomery’s work has always inspired Stories of Chinese labor and Native Smith, and his personalized style of writing American servitude are scarcely found in textbooks, but in Stacey Smith’s award- is present in her work. The stories within “Freedom’s Frontier” winning novel, “Freedom’s Frontier,” she revisits untold stories of race and labor are set in California during the Gold Rush in the mid-to-late 19th century. — and their significance to Smith looks at the diverAmerica’s history. sity of labor systems in the What began as a dissertaAmerican West, a subject tion became the winner of that’s more detailed than it the 2014 David Montgomery appears. Stories written of Award. this period delve into the After five years of revisNorth, South and the freeing her dissertation, Smith, dom of slaves. an assistant professor in hisBut that isn’t the whole tory, philosophy & religion at story. Oregon State University, sub“We tend to tell American mitted her book to University history as a black and white of North Carolina press for story,” Smith said. “It’s more peer review. Although Smith said publishing a dis- complicated than black and white, and sertation is normal, she admits winning free and slave.” Smith said that a byproduct of her book an award is far less common. n
This week in campus history News, page 2
is the challenge it presents to myth of western freedom. The West, Smith said, has always been one of the most racially and ethnically diverse places in the country, but not always accepting of its diversity. This melting pot set the stage for Chinese labor, Chilean immigrants, which shaped modern immigration work, and Native American children taken in by white families as indentured servants. The stories give the reader a look into California’s role in the Civil War, which Ben Mutschler, director of the School of History, Philosophy and Religion, said takes strong archival skills to portray. “We might not think about California as part of that story; it’s often thought of North and South,” Mutschler said. “(Smith) argues that many of the issues really have ramifications for which the Civil War plays out, especially (during the) Reconstruction (Era). “(‘Freedom’s Frontier’) forcefully brings in the history of the West into this larger story of the Civil War Reconstruction.” Mutschler said the beauty of Smith’s work is the ambitious nature with which See SMITH | page 4
Spring football game storylines Sports, page 5
COURTESY OF STACEY SMITH
Stacey Smith, author of “Freedom’s Frontier,” stands in front of the poster announcing her award in Atlanta.
Dr. Sex: Is it OK to have sex during menstrual cycle? Forum, page 7