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August 31. 2015 12:01AM Letters to the Editor, Aug. 31 Don't arrest Samaritans I was happy to see the article in the Mail Tribune Aug. 21, “Naloxone credited with nine overdose saves.” However, at the end of the piece, Police Chief Tim George says it is possible that an overdose victim (and presumably "good  Samaritans" that call 911 instead of running away) could face criminal charges. What a sad, and soon to be totally wrong, thing to say. In June our Legislature passed SB 839, a good Samaritan law, which will take effect Jan. 1, 2016. It will protect from prosecution the overdose victim, anyone calling 911 or others providing aid. Specifically, the law protects against arrest for possession of a controlled substance, drug paraphernalia, and anyone on probation or with parole violations. In other words, if you make a call to save a life, you and the victim will not be charged with a crime. Portland police are already following the spirit of the new law. Let’s hope the punitive attitude toward this public health problem will sooner rather than later be adopted by the Medford Police Department. Claudia Little, BSN, MPH Ashland Deck is stacked On Sept. 1, the Ashland City Council considers the Normal Neighborhood Plan (NNP), allowing construction of 450 residential units. NNP would be the largest development in Ashland’s history. Financial and environment costs to citizens have not been fully presented. Initially, so many citizens objected to the NNP, the mayor appointed a study group to improve the plan. However, this group included no citizen members. Instead, the mayor selected two City Council members, two members of the Planning Commission, a city planner and himself. During 12 meetings, the study group heard recommendations of a Medford developer, and seldom responded to input by residents of the NNP area. The deck seems stacked in favor of the adoption of the NNP. On Sept. 1, the two City Council members on the NNP working group will likely vote for the development. A yes vote from one more council member will create a tie. The mayor, one of the most active supporters of the development, will likely break the tie, giving Ashland a giant development, with little input from its citizens. This is not how democracy works. Before approval, the City Council must provide the costs and environmental risks of the NNP. David Hoffman Ashland Thinning is the answer As a mother, a carpenter, a gardener and resident of the Little Applegate, I recognize the value of both forest health and wood. As many of our local mills are retooling for smaller diameter logs, I feel strongly that the role of the BLM should be to protect and maintain late ancient forests and old growth trees. There are hundreds of thousands of acres of public forest that could be thinned. This type of management emphasizes restoration and fuels reduction while providing valuable timber "product" for our economy. There is no legitimate need to cut what little remains of our mature trees on our public lands. The main obstacle to the perceived value of smaller diameter logs is what is considered excessive handling compounded by the myopic culture of the timber industry. The timber industry has successfully sued to put a stop to restoration thinning. And the BLM's new draft management plan would slash streamside reserves and resume clearcut forestry. It is only a matter of implementing the technology we already have to make small-diameter utilization competitive by bringing the handling costs down. Imagine the win-win-win: fuels reduction for rural communities, ecologically benign products, and green jobs in the flat-lined sector of the Oregon timber economy. Lydia Doleman Applegate     http://www.mailtribune.com/article/20150831/OPINION/150839984 © 2015 Copyright © 1995-2011 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. Terms of Use Privacy Statement -->