Are we Oregon's Renegade Journalists?

Like other media groups in the past, Salem-News has taken a position on a political issue. Medical marijuana is after all, the law of the land.

(SALEM, Ore.) - It seems that we have figured out how to punch buttons in this news world by being honest about certain things. In fact, it is amazing how riled up and excited people sometimes become over our stories. That tells me that we are making people think, and I don't know a bigger goal to achieve.

Salem-News.com has been generating Internet stories for almost three and a half years now. We are a different type of media machine, that we don't contest. I would even say that we are the most unique mainstream information source in the nation, one that sees increasing daily popularity, and is a sign of things to come.

One of our positions that attracts plenty of attention centers around our ability to comprehend state law and our willingness to help people. Oregon's Medical Marijuana Program has been voted into law not once, but twice. In spite of that, it is under daily assault by police, the courts and the media in this state. They are showing us that they are going to do everything in their power to end the legal, voter passed endorsement of a harmless herb that has been around since the beginning of time, but has only been under fire for 60 - 70 years in the good old U.S.A.

The torch bearer leading the horde up cannabis hill is twice-failed Gubernatorial candidate Kevin Mannix. Like a neo-con on steroids, this man is trying to drive legislation that would end Oregon's Medical Marijuana Program by asserting several points that are scientifically not true.

Oregonians should be enraged by this, but it is the age in America when politicians know that if they lie enough they will sway voters to some extent. People should give serious consideration to which group they should believe. For those who believe Mannix, I believe your master is driving the herd in a direction that conflicts with everything Oregon stands for, or at least once did.

Oregon is a unique state with big problems and little unity. This is not a good time for politicians to undermine the needs of sick people. Medical pot isn't the only thing either; voter-passed assisted suicide is also legal here, and it has been on the Republican hit list as well. Even Sam Brownback tried to end Oregon's state law in Washington, D.C. Leave the Kansas attitude at the door, we already saw Footloose, which is not the worst example of how some of these crusaders see things.

So we renegades at Salem-News.com; myself, Dr. Phillip Leveque, Henry Clay Ruark and Neal Feldman, have a message for those who fail to respect Oregon's law. We want them to all know that every published lie will be countered, and every false statement about medical marijuana will be addressed, and it will continue until this nonsense ends.

And Bonnie King and Dr. Leveque, Oregon's leading medical marijuana physician, will continue to educate people through their series of video reports that have been extremely well received all over the nation.

We also want to point out that groups are watching these questionable anti-pot antics very closely, hoping that the OMMP will be turned over. They are the illegal pot dealers and organized criminals.

Their sentiments and desires are with Kevin Mannix, the Marion County DA's office and others who have no damned business sticking their noses into people's legal, private lives in the first place. No wonder Mannix always loses the race for governor, no wonder the Marion County DA blows cases the way it does.

These criminals are 100% different from the average citizen who uses marijuana, and like corporate America, they could care less about a person's well being. They want marijuana to be an illegal "drug" because they can make a lot of money from it. Pot is the only illicit substance that is 100% natural and unprocessed when used. No laboratories, no nasty ingredients, just a flower that has been here far longer than our society.

Besides, we have inadequate jail space to deal with housing pot smokers and growers, there are more important crimes by far that these law enforcement officials should support enforcing.

Don't get me wrong, they all care about drug problems, at least in ways that carry personal benefits. You can tell by the celebrity photo shoots distributed by Salem's local anti-meth organization with the longest, most pretentious name ever applied to an anti-drug group: No Meth Not In My Neighborhood. I know people affiliated with them have true desires to see meth eliminated, but all I see them doing is patting each other on the back. What exactly are they doing again?

Maybe you should ask Kevin Mannix, after all he is the one adding huge doses of polarity to Oregon in his hell bent drive to establish his archaic, senseless politics here. I have never uttered a negative word about Oregon's meth fighting group, but this is where we are heading when we let people like him advance their agendas here. Patients feel like their backs are up against the wall, and they are finding new ways to carry their fight to any level they have to. Good work Mannix, you are such a gem of a man.

If people looked at the bigger picture, if marijuana were to be legalized, your state's economy would surge out of control and Oregon would be the envy of the union. Then you could launch programs to rid the community of lethal drugs like methamphetamines. This substance makes people lose their minds and try to kill one another. Pot makes people happy, tired, and sometimes hungry.

But noting the way Senators voted to send American troops to Iraq, we know they are slow to react, if they do at all. They are also haunted by this ghost of the "moral majority" that makes them picture pot as a devil's weed, when in fact its use is referenced several times in the bible.

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Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with almost twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist and reporter. Today, in addition to his role as a war correspondent in Afghanistan where he spent the winter of 2006/07, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Salem-News.com is the nation's only truly independent high traffic news Website, affiliated only with Google News. You can send Tim an email at this address: newsroom@salem-news.com

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Comments Leave a comment on this story.

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Skipper Osborne November 1, 2007 4:32 pm (Pacific time)

EVEN THOUGH I DO NOT SMOKE MARIJUANA - I AGREE WITH THIS ARTICLE 1,000%! PEOPLE GET INVOLVED!!!

isuggest October 31, 2007 6:06 pm (Pacific time)

If you want to know what the No Meth "taskforce" does - it encourages the police to break the law. I attended a neighborhood association meeting where a Salem police officer actually (I am not making this up) encouraged the attendees to report any "suspicious" (whatever that is) activity. He went on to promise that they would find a way to get inside and he described a recent intrusion where no drugs were found - and he then, astonishingly, went on to suggest that the fact that no drugs were found was inconsequential. When I was younger, those who opposed legalization, after being provided with accurate information, would often resort to simply taking the position that "the law is the law". The recent actions against legal cardholders suggest that "the law is the law" may only apply when it is convenient. Police officers who violate the law are hypocrites - Mannix is a different animal - he is amoral. The only thing he cares about is winning - if he thought for a second that support for legalization would translate into political support, he would immediately jump on the bandwagon. His core belief (if it can be called that) is that the ends justify the means. And he's short (like Napoleon).

Nory King October 31, 2007 2:39 pm (Pacific time)

Speaking of Mannix's efforts to sway the populace with lies, one only needs to harken back to Nazi Germany, and the philosophy that if one tells the big lie enough times, people will eventually begin to believe it.

Neal Feldman October 31, 2007 2:12 pm (Pacific time)

My name is Neal Feldman and I approve of this message. (Just thought I would make it official). Mannix needs to go, as do the likes of Keizer police captain Kuhns. For all their ranting and raving against medical marijuana they have shown zero harm from it. And as for Chuck Lee and his inane tirade about legal growers near schools does he really think that schools are the only places near kids? Hint for Mr Lee... kids are everywhere. Then again it is clear 'kids' are nothing but political props and foils for his transparent attempt to undermine or ban outright the OMMA. Tyrants such as these need to be opposed in every way at every level. Ah well...

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Are we Oregon's Renegade Journalists?

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