(KGW) PORTLAND, Ore. — A man and a woman were killed in a shooting at a Tualatin drug testing center Tuesday, according to Tualatin Police Department.

Police Chief Kent Baker said a man armed with a rifle entered the Legacy Metro Lab drug testing center at 7587 SW Mohawk St. and began firing.

A woman was killed. At least two others were injured. The suspect was later found dead from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot, Baker said.

Baker could not say for certain how many people were in the drug testing center when the shooter opened fire.

The gunman’s motive was unknown. It was unclear what relationship, if any, he had with the lab or anyone there.

Oregon has some of the worst unemployment in the nation

Well, I have a theory. See if you can help me connect the dots:

• The US unemployment rate for September ‘09 was a seasonally-adjusted 9.8%
• The unemployment rate for Oregon was 11.5%
• The unemployment rate for the Portland metro area was 11.7%
• Oregon’s home foreclosure rate is the highest it’s been since the 1980s
• Failing a workplace drug test can mean the loss of your job.
• Losing your job can mean the loss of your home.

Sure, the fact that the shooting happened at a drug testing facility may be just coincidence.  Maybe he’s been dumped by a woman who works there.  Maybe he used to work there and got fired.  But I’ve got my money on “working man with long career loses job because of drug test, returns to exact his revenge.”

This Friday, Oregon NORML’s Cannabis Café opens in Northeast Portland. I’ll be there Saturday night with a live broadcast of NORML SHOW LIVE from the café. Meanwhile, the notion of medical marijuana patients having their own private club is generating a lot of news here:

Our FOX affiliate:

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Click here to view the embedded video.

This is wall-to-wall coverage on my local evening news – all four stations.  Mulino is about 27 miles due south of NORML West Coast Media Headquarters (a.k.a. my home studio):

MULINO, Ore. (KGW)– A Mulino man was shot and killed at his home late Wednesday night, according to the Clackamas County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies went to the home at 13262 S. Macksburg Rd. to arrest two people on warrants late Wednesday night, according to Detective Jeffrey Green.

The man opened the door with a firearm, according to investigators, and “a confrontation ensued.” The man was shot and killed, deputies said.

Neighbors told KGW the man who died was 68-year-old Bert Henkle. According to neighbors, Henkle had lived on the rural property more than 25 years.

Marjorie Crawford, 80, was arrested at the scene and transported to an area hospital by ambulance for treatment of an unrelated medical issue before she was taken to jail. Neighbors said she was Henkle’s girlfriend.

Police said they had been investigating drug activity at the home since last fall, involving what they believe was an illegal marijuana-growing operation.

They said Crawford now faces charges for the manufacturing, delivery and possession of marijuana. She was booked at the Clackamas County Jail after a brief hospitalization.

So many lives needlessly devastated by the tragic absurdity that is adult marijuana prohibition.

An elderly man is dead and his children and grandchildren weep.

An elderly frail woman is arrested and booked and photographed like some dangerous criminal.  Her children are rushed by the blazing lights and pointed questions of local news photographers as they watch the sheriff’s deputy wheel her out of the jail.

Two police officers are grappling with their emotions as they try to imagine how they could have avoided killing a man probably not unlike their grandfathers.  Wives and children of those officers face the uncertainty of not knowing how careers will be affected.

Part of the public that has accepted medical marijuana and begrudgingly tolerated social marijuana now has to wonder why its police are shooting and killing old men over their pot gardens.  Even those who oppose marijuana have to wonder if it’s really worth shooting people over.

I watched the daughter on the evening news express disbelief that her 80-year-old mother could ever be involved with anything like growing and distributing marijuana.  As the economy slides, older people will feel the pinch.  Many who worked hard and socked away money dutifully in their 401k just saw that money disappear and they don’t have the years left to see any stimulus package work out over a decade.  I think we are going to see many more busts of older people who have no economic choice but to try to make money growing pot.

Unless we come to our senses and just legalize it already, so we don’t have to send Sheriff’s “narcotics” task forces out to serve warrants on people for gardening.

Portland’s local ABC affiliate, KATU…

Marijuana initiative would allow pot sales at Ore. liquor stores | KATU.com – Portland, Oregon | News
SALEM, Ore. – Relax it and tax it.

That’s the motto behind a new cannabis initiative that would allow Oregon’s state-controlled liquor stores to legally sell marijuana to adults.

Initiative backers said their plan would send 90 percent of the proceeds from the state’s sale of marijuana to Oregon’s General Fund, which could lower Oregonians’ state tax burden.

Smaller percentages would go to funding drug abuse education and treatment programs.

The initiative would also legalize the growing of hemp, a non-drug variant of cannabis that can be used to make industrial-strength fibers and bio-fuels.

Supporters claim that allowing cannabis cultivation and sales through state liquor stores would add $300 million in combined tax revenues and savings to Oregon’s budget.

Paul Stanford of the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act said the measure would also put a dent in illegal dealing of the weed.

“We want to take marijuana out of the hands of children and substance abusers, who control the market today, and put it in the hands of the state’s liquor control commission and the age limit of 21 will be strictly enforced,” Stanford said at a press briefing.

Supporters have two years to collect nearly 83,000 signatures to get the measure on the November ballot in 2010.

There is an online poll at www.KATU.com and at www.KOIN.com asking if you support the measure.  Everybody (except ED) go on to the sites and click a “YES” for us!

More news coverage after the jump…

Portland’s local NBC affiliate (KGW)…

Supporters push to sell marijuana in retail stores

PORTLAND, Ore. – Supporters of marijuana legalization kicked off a signature campaign Monday which proposes redirecting money into Oregon’s general fund by allowing marijuana to be sold in retail stores.

The initiative petition is called the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act 2010.

OCTA proposes to redirect millions of dollars annually into Oregon’s general fund through the sale of marijuana to adults over 21 years of age.

The OLCC would be tasked with managing the program, which would license approved individuals to cultivate the product for sale. A portion of the marijuana grown would also be directed to registered cardholders in the Oregon Medical Marijuana Program, supporters said.

A portion of the taxes collected would go to drug treatment.

In addition, the initiative would permit cultivation of industrial hemp, which could quickly become Oregon’s largest cash crop, according to supporters.

Supporters estimate that revenue generated by state-controlled cannabis sales could easily reach $300 million annually. In addition, tourism and related activities would generate at least $50 million annually, they estimate.

Campaign organizers plan to gather a minimum of 82,769 valid signatures by the deadline of 5 p.m. on July 2, 2010. If the measure is certified by the Secretary of State, it will be presented to Oregonians for a vote in November of 2010.

Portland’s local CBS affiliate (KOIN)

Cannabis Act initiative signature-gathering begins

PORTLAND – Could hemp become Oregon’s largest cash crop? Supporters of the Oregon Cannabis Act of 2010 (OCTA) hope so.

Monday kicked off the signature campaign to get the initiative on the ballot in November 2010. The initiative would allow growth of industrial hemp to be used for clothing, food, fuel and even plastics.

It would also allow retail sale of marijuana to those 21 and older.

Supporters say hemp is in great demand but can’t be grown under current law. They estimate revenue generated by state-controlled Cannabis sales could easily reach $300 million annually.

Oregon Liquor Control Commission would monitor sales.

The group needs close to 83,000 signatures by July of 2010 to get the initiative on the ballot and let voters decide.

A similar initiative was introduced twice in the 1990s but failed to get the signatures to make it on the ballot.