Governor Kitzhaber is quoted in The Oregonian (Nov. 5, 1998) as saying, " I think one of the messages last night around the country and in Oregon is that voters want problem solving." This statement was part of a post-election appeal by the Democratic Governor to legislative Republicans for less partisanship and for more of a pragmatic approach to governing.
Unfortunately, unless the Republicans took the same message from the election, Kitzhaber is likely to be disappointed. It has been the conservative philosophy since even before Ronald Reagan was elected that government does not solve problems, it creates problems. "Get the 'gubbamment' offen the back of 'biddness'," etc..
This election signals as much as anything the public's weariness with that level of government bashing. Over the past 20 years the negative, anti-government, rhetoric has gone from general criticism of national and local leaders to bad-mouthing all public employees, teachers, public health nurses, traffic engineers, etc.. Now the public wants the president and the governor and the legislators to get on with the job of solving public problems - and stop just pointing and shouting.
Chances are, many conservatives will not hear the unwanted message that, at least for now, one of the main flavors in their political menu has gone sour. It is not easy to reinvent oneself or one's philosophy, and the inclination is to hang on. An example of this is the lead editorial in the same post election Oregonian: "The war on the war on drugs."
The papers' opinion is 18 column inches of strident deprecation of Ballot Measure 67, legalizing the medicinal use of marijuana, which Oregon voters, along with voters in four other states, just approved by a 55%-45% margin. The new law gives doctors the legal right to recommend the use of marijuana for patients undergoing chemo-therapy or for certain other serious illnesses - and it gives these patients the right to grow small quantities of the plant for personal use. The editorial's tone is derisive to the point of being insulting to the intelligence of the 55% who voter in favor.
The paper strongly supported Measure 57, which would have recriminalized the possession of less than an ounce of marijuana - increasing possession from a simple violation to misdemeanor status, thus permitting arrests and extensive searches and property confiscations. Measure 57 was rejected by 67% of Oregon voters. Not once in the 18 column inches about marijuana as medicine did the Oregonian editor refer to the defeat of Measure 57. Such yellow journalism is more in keeping with the 1930's tactics of the tee-totaller editors who were fighting to save federal prohibition laws against alcohol. When the editorial about 57 does come out, expect to hear about "reefer maddness."
Like The Oregonian, the federal government has not gotten the message from the election: marijuana is no more harmful than alcohol, and the people know it. It is well within the boundaries of caution to allow very sick people to attempt to get some relief from their suffering from such a low-risk drug.
Law enforcement officials and The Oregonian have their skivvies in a knot because they fear the "wrong" message will go out. However, the message that relief from nausea can be obtained by smoking pot will not be the "wrong" message for those it helps. Also, as the paper concedes, the reduction of the status of marijuana to that of a potentially therapeutic drug (such as morphine or nitrous oxide) may have the effect of making the drug more widely available to independent medical researchers. So far, only researchers funded by grants from the US government have been allowed to possess marijuana. These researchers have a vested interest in supporting the official line about pot being addictive and damaging to health. Some very beneficial medicine(s) may result from opening up the research.