Prescription for improvement
Oklahoma has a major problem with prescription drug abuse. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health found that our state has the highest rate of nonmedical use for painkillers. Such findings give credence to efforts like those by state Rep. Pat Ownbey, R-Ardmore, who wants to require physicians to check the prescription history of new patients. Ownbey’s House Bill 2574, approved this week by the House, would make doctors check the state narcotics bureau’s online prescription monitoring program before prescribing a controlled dangerous substance to a new patient. Doctors also would have to do a similar check each year on all their patients. Two legislators who are physicians took opposite stances on the bill. One said it would be a burden, the other supported the plan. If it puts a dent in the doctor shopping that is so common in Oklahoma now, it will be worthwhile.
Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
Why bother?
Members of the Oklahoma City Council used part of Tuesday’s meeting debating whether to change an ordinance aimed at ticket scalpers. The current ordinance prohibits sellers from bumping the price of a ticket by more than 50 cents over face value. On the table is a proposal that would increase that to $20 above face value, keep scalpers at least 500 feet from event venues, and recognize ticket exchange programs run by teams or venues. But why wade into this issue at all? If a person wants to pay more for a ticket than the ticket is worth, so what? The council ought to spend its time on more pressing matters.
Photo by Michael Kimball, The Oklahoman
Indian smokes
The Muscogee (Creek) Nation lost a court ruling this week, but it’s the state that’s been the biggest loser so far. The Creeks sued the state in 2010 over a new law that made it illegal to sell cigarettes that hadn’t been approved by the state. Before that, the tribe sold some brands of Indian-made cigarettes that didn’t carry a state tax stamp. This meant the state lost out on hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax revenue. On Tuesday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court’s dismissal of the Creek lawsuit. And all that lost tax revenue? For now it’s up in smoke, although that could change if the state wins a separate lawsuit it filed in Tulsa County in 2009 against tribal retailers. That case was put on hold pending the 10th Circuit case. Here’s hoping some remuneration comes the state’s way.
Graphic provided by the Muscogee (Creek) Nation
Bullet point
The meaning of “cruel and unusual” punishment has been defined down over the years by death penalty opponents. A result is the long slog from beheading by axe or sword to the guillotine to the firing squad and hanging to the gas chamber and electric chair to, finally, lethal injection.
Pressure on companies that make the drugs used in executions has led to a shortage and this may result in a reversal of sorts. If Oklahoma can’t get the drugs, it could legally resort to the electric chair or firing squad. Since the state has no electric chair (and isn’t likely to put out bids for one), that leaves the bullet. Perhaps this is the true intent of the anti-capital punishment forces — to take executions back in time to what the people might consider an unacceptable alternative.
If so, we pity the first death row inmates who face a firing squad while public opinion catches up with the fallback method to put cold-blooded killers to death. Will those inmates beg for the needle instead, only to be told their friends on the outside have loaded the rifle by unloading the syringe?
The execution chamber at the Utah State Prison after an execution by firing squad in June 2010. (AP Photo)
Targeting young drivers
A bill aimed at reducing distractions for young drivers made its way out of a state Senate committee this week. The bill by Sen. Brian Crain, R-Tulsa, would outlaw the use of cellphones for drivers younger than 18. Last year, the Legislature banned the use of hand-held devices for drivers with learner’s permits or intermediate licenses. But intermediate licenses only last six months, which means plenty of 16- and 17-year-old drivers are allowed to talk while driving. Crain’s bill is a good idea. Although opponents say current statutes allow penalties for distracted driving, having a law on the books prohibiting cellphone use at the wheel will make teens think twice before doing it. The more focused they are on the traffic around them, the better.
Photo by Jim Beckel, The Oklahoman
Giving it another try
Numerous legislative efforts through the years have failed to put much of a dent in the number of uninsured drivers in Oklahoma. This evergreen topic blooms again with a bill by Rep. Steve Martin, R-Bartlesville. Martin wants suspicion of driving while uninsured to be considered probable cause to make a traffic stop. That suspicion could be piqued through use of the state’s online verification system, which lets police know whether a vehicle they have pulled over is insured. Uninsured vehicles can be impounded after traffic stops — but driving an uninsured vehicle is not probable cause to make a stop. If Martin’s bill were to become law, he said, more vehicles could be cited or towed “without the need for the driver to break other laws at the same time.” It’s worth a try, at least until the next attempt comes down the pike.
Puppet court
Corruption trial puppets in cross-examination (AP Photo)
It’s “Sesame Street” meets the unseemly side of politics. With cameras barred from a high-profile corruption trial, a Cleveland, Ohio, television station has puppets acting out the steamy testimony about hookers, gambling and sexually transmitted diseases. In one scene, a furry hand stuffs cash down the shirt of a puppet prostitute. WOIO news director Dan Salamone brought up the idea of using the puppets to lampoon the trial and give a glimpse of what’s happening in the federal courtroom. Because cameras aren’t allowed, other stations have relied on artist sketches of the proceedings and videos of longtime Democratic power broker Jimmy Dimora walking into court. The puppets are in addition to the station’s regular coverage of Dimora’s trial. Although some people have criticized the station for blurring the lines between news and entertainment, Salamone defended the segments, saying it’s no different from when newscasts end with a lighter, humorous story. Oklahoma has its own share of trials that easily could be lampooned similarly.
Hammer (gets) time
At the risk of sounding too clever, how about this observation in the case of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom Delay of Texas, who was sentenced to three years in prison on money laundering and conspiracy convictions this week: It looks like “The Hammer” now knows what it’s like to be the nail.
OK, stop the groaning. Delay is a classic how-the-mighty-have-fallen story. At his apex he was one of the most powerful men in Washington, leading the Republicans in the House and raising millions of dollars for GOP candidates with a style that earned him that descriptive nickname.
Delay claims he was railroaded in Travis County, one of the most Democratic counties in otherwise mostly Republican Texas. But a jury was convinced he maneuvered to illegally channel corporate donations to state House candidates in 2002. “Everything I did was covered by accountants and lawyers telling me what I had to do to stay within the law,” said Delay, who served in Congress from 1984 to 2006. “I can’t be remorseful for something I don’t think I did.” Remorseful or not, Delay appears headed for another house, the Big House. He is appealing.
Coming on too strong
No walk-back, yet, by Tucker Carlson from his broadcast remark that Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Michael Vick should have been executed after being convicted of torturing and killing dogs. The editor in chief of The Daily Caller, an online news outlet, Carlson made the comment Tuesday while guest-hosting Sean Hannity’s show on Fox News. “Michael Vick killed dogs, and he did in a heartless and cruel way, and I think personally he should have been executed for that,” Carlson said.
Yeah, that’s strong — too strong! But here’s some context: In addition to his work as a conservative pundit, Carlson is an animal rights defender. Earlier this year he recorded a public service spot for the Washington Animal Rescue League. He was talking about Vick in connection with President Obama’s phone call to Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie, reportedly thanking Lurie for signing Vick in 2009 after the player served 21 months in federal prison for his involvement in an illegal dog-fighting ring. Carlson said Obama’s support for “someone who murdered dogs” was “kind of beyond the pale.” He’s got a point about Obama but not about Vick and the death penalty. Tucker Carlson is a thoughtful, interesting commentator, but that one got away from him.
Issue of conscience
If Congress repeals the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that effectively bars gays from serving openly in the armed forces, no one will be more affected than the military’s chaplains. The Pentagon’s report on the potential effects of repealing the policy notes that some chaplains “condemn in the strongest possible terms homosexuality as a sin and an abomination, and inform us that they would refuse to in any way support, comfort, or assist someone they knew to be homosexual.” Not all chaplains feel that way, of course, but clearly a policy change would have ramifications for the spiritual role chaplains play. Among those most opposed to lifting the policy are Catholic chaplains, ministering to service members who comprise about 20 percent of the armed forces, according to The Washington Post.
It’s hard to predict what will happen if the policy is changed. Most likely, some chaplains will welcome the change, others will adjust and still others will leave the service rather than do anything they would consider a faith compromise. “If there’s no protection for the chaplain to be able to speak according to his faith group, that might affect the number of chaplains we recruit or our ability to do our duty for the troops,” the Rev. Douglas Lee, a retired Presbyterian Air Force chaplain and brigadier general, told The Post.
