3 Reasons Why The New York Times Endorsement is a Big Deal for Oregon
1. The New York Times has authority on the topic:
After in-depth consideration of both sides of the issue of marijuana legalization, the New York Times came out this summer with a series of six thorough and thoughtful opinion pieces on the reasons to, and results from, establishing a regulated, legal system of controlling marijuana. You can see the series HERE. As the ‘paper of record’ in the United States, the New York times is the guiding light for all print media in today’s public discourse.
Now the Times has put their money where their mouth is and written a piece urging all three locales with marijuana legalization on the ballot in the US – Oregon, Alaska and the District of Columbia – to continue the movement of reforming marijuana policy. Below is the section about Oregon.
2. The endorsement joins that of three Oregon newspapers (thus far), including the state’s two largest newspapers:
The Oregonian and The Register Guard, the two most-circulated papers in Oregon, are also urging voters to pass Measure 91. The Times also joins The East Oregonian in support of Measure 91 which demonstrated the breadth of support across the state. This support is even more notable considering that none of these papers endorsed previous Oregon legalization measures.
3. Public opinion is changing and the news media is reflecting that:
Poll after poll shows that a growing majority of Oregonians and Americans support a regulated, legal system of marijuana in which it is taxed and better controlled. That’s why these papers and many organizations and individuals who haven’t previously supported marijuana reform, are coming out in favor of Measure 91, a sample of which includes:
- Two senior citizen organizations: The Oregon Council for Retired Citizens and the Oregon Alliance for Retired Americans;
- Labor organizations like AFSCME locals 88 and 328; and the United Food and Commercial Workers, Local 555
- Professional organizations such as the Oregon Chapter of National Association of Social Workers, Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Portland City Club and many more.
Here’s what the paper of record had to say about Measure 91:
“OREGON Measure 91 would also set a minimum age of 21. It would give the Oregon Liquor Control Commission the power to regulate marijuana as it does alcohol, and would direct it to review tax rates regularly. The tax — initially set at $35 per ounce for flowers and $10 per ounce for leaves — should allow for prices low enough to compete with street dealers. Since it is already extremely easy for adults in Oregon to obtain medical marijuana cards (almost 65,000 Oregonians have one), recreational legalization will not be a big change. As The Oregonian editorialized in August, the measure would “be worth supporting for reasons of honesty and convenience alone.”