We all know that hard drugs are dangerous. So, you’d think any measure to decriminalize them would be immediately recognized as a bad idea. Yet, it seems the liberal state of Oregon has been so clouded by wokeness that it can’t realize such, or didn’t until just recently.
As CNN recently reported, a 90-day “state of emergency” has just been officially declared for downtown Portland thanks to an increasingly dangerous drug addiction problem, mostly fentanyl.
Per the outlet, “Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson, and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler each made an emergency declaration to address the public health and public safety crisis in Portland’s Central City, citing overdoses, deaths, and fear-driven by fentanyl use.”
CNN goes on to point out that “opioid overdose death in the state increased from 280 in 2019 to 956 in 2022,” a whopping 241 percent increase in just a few short years.
How did this happen?
Well, it basically all comes down to the passing of Measure 110. As the outlet reports, this legislation was adopted in the Oregon State Legislature in 2020. What it did was essentially decriminalize some use of hard drugs, including fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid.”
At the time, a growing number of the state’s liberal leaders were noticing the drug and overdose problems in the US. However, rather than incarcerating more drug users, the idea was to get them the help they really needed.
The argument basically was if more addicts got treatment rather than prison time, eventually, the crises of drug addiction might be conquered, and our prisons would not be overflowing.
Now, in and of itself, this isn’t a bad thought. Clearly, going to prison isn’t going to make someone sober, although it could help.
But as Oregonians are learning the hard way, that doesn’t mean you can just make drug use acceptable, especially for drugs like fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, etc.
The best course of action now is to immediately reverse Measure 110 and start implementing some laws that will actually have an effect on drug addicts in the state.
