Month: September 2005

Oregon recently became the first state to require prescriptions for medications whose ingredients can be used to produce methamphetamine. While legislative motives were no doubt good, we now know that this law will likely backfire.

The Oregonian just reported that, according to (more…)

Summary

Oregon is repeating Prohibition-era mistakes with the state’s new meth laws. Regulating cold medicine and increasing punishments will not keep the drug off the streets. Honest drug education would be more effective than legislation. (more…)

Hurricane Katrina’s devastation is throwing a spotlight on federal regulations that could get in the way of reconstruction. Perhaps the biggest federal roadblock is the Davis-Bacon Act. It requires that contractors pay so-called “prevailing wages” on federally-funded construction projects, which are often higher than market-based wages in a given area. Enacted during the Great Depression, its real motive was to keep non-unionized African American workers from competing with white-only unions.

Today, Davis-Bacon still (more…)

Multnomah County Sheriff Bernie Guisto has suggested using the new and unused Wapato correctional facility in North Portland as a refugee center for displaced Gulf Coast residents. Portland officials should not hesitate to follow his advice. Hundreds of thousands of our fellow citizens have been displaced from their homes, and this $58 million housing facility remains vacant.

Originally constructed as a medium security jail, there is no reason why (more…)