Re: Oregon decriminalized drugs in 2020. Now officials are declaring a fentanyl state of emergency

On 28 Feb 2022, Lefty Lundquist <[email protected]> posted some
news:[email protected]: 

> Stupid fucking Democrats can't see any further than the ends of their
> noses.  Stupid wasteful fucks. 

The governor of Oregon has declared an emergency in the city of Portland
a few years after the state became the first in the nation to largely
decriminalize drug use. 

Oregon paved the way as the first state to decriminalize drug use,
passing Measure 110 in 2020. Instead of incarcerating drug users, the
measure focused on addiction and recovery, with Portland police officers
hand out citations for public drug use. People can have a chance for
treatment and have their fines waived if they contact specific
rehabilitation services, but calling that hotline is voluntary. 

"We've had three years of this law that has not delivered on the promise
that voters thought they were getting," Washington County district
attorney Kevin Barton said. 

The hope was that a more humane approach would help curb addiction in
the state, which saw nearly a thousand accidental overdose deaths in
2022. However, overdose deaths have continued to rise since 2020. 

Now, the state, county and city have all declared a fentanyl state of
emergency, and the state now appears to be taking a new approach to
address the opioid crisis plaguing its largest city. The 90-day
emergency order for fentanyl use issued by Gov. Tina Kotek establishes a
command center and more coordination between emergency management and
health services. 

"This is a crisis that has been developing for decades," Haven Wheelock,
the harm reduction manager of medical and youth care nonprofit center
Outside In, told CBS affiliate KOIN. "And if this is what it's going to
take to get the attention and the care and the funding and the
coordination that this tragic issue deserves, then I'm going to remain
hopeful about that." 

Wheelock said that she hopes the emergency will help fix the current
crisis, though she added that no government magic wand or "90-day plan"
will fix the crisis. Meanwhile, Jesse Cornett, the policy director for
recovery organization Oregon Recovers, told KOIN that his organization
called for an emergency declaration in August. He said he hopes that
officials will institute additional steps like expanding the declaration
to be statewide, setting clear goals, and addressing the need for
immediate access to treatment.  

"If you talk to any police officer in the metro area, in Portland
specifically, they don't even have anywhere to take anyone that's in the
crisis right now," Cornett told KOIN. "So there are some immediate first
steps including a sobering center that should be taken." 

Some Portland residents say they don't want to see Oregon's law
repealed. Ebony Brawley said that it helped her avoid prison and turn
her life around. 

"Because of Measure 110, I was able to change my story and break those
chains, and provide a life for myself and for my daughter that she
probably wouldn't have had," Brawley said. 

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/oregon-decriminalized-drugs-in-2020-now-offi
cials-are-declaring-a-fentanyl-emergency/