A couple of weeks ago (Sept. 16) the Chieftain saw fit to honor a new business venture on Main Street in Joseph. That business was a “pipe shop.” No matter what you choose to call it, it sells objects used in the process of smoking. The main impetus of the shop and the article was on the smoking of dope.

The Chieftain obviously is quite enamored with the objects so widely displayed in the larger-than-usual photo on the front page of Wallowa County’s only newspaper. The fact that this new business made the front page says a lot about the leadership of the Chieftain.

According to the Chieftain’s own statistics, 61 percent of Wallowa County voted with me against the legalization of marijuana. The question is: Is the Chieftain Wallowa County’s newspaper, or just another Oregonian?

I find promoting smoking of any kind outdated and mindless. I find the glorifying of smoking of dope on your front page sickening.

The Chieftain has a right, within limits, to print what they want. I defended those rights and I believe in them. However legal this article was, the fact remains that it was in very poor taste. There have been many new businesses that have opened in the last year. How many were on the front page of the Chieftain? A new bakery opened in Enterprise last week. Where was the front-page story promoting cinnamon rolls and other delights? The last time I checked, donuts have never been illegal in Oregon.

The Chieftain staff’s obvious infatuation with “amazing hookahs” should be kept to itself. The article was not news and not appropriate in any way.

In closing: effective immediately, I am cancelling all my future advertising with and my subscription to the Chieftain.

Jim Russell,

1917 Lumber Co.

Joseph