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The War on Drugs is touring again! No, not the band (although maybe they are; we haven’t checked the Bumbershoot lineup), but the policy. Oregon’s voter-approved experiment with decriminalizing hard drugs has largely been gutted without voter sanction, although we haven’t noticed any Bring Back Meth March parading in the Portland streets. First, lawmakers said people caught with drugs could choose between jail and treatment. Now, as first reported Nov. 25 on wweek.com, Multnomah County District Attorney Nathan Vasquez says people who don’t complete treatment get jail. It was only a matter of time: The county’s drug-crime deflection program, intended to “deflect” people away from incarceration and into rehab, has been pilloried from all corners for its paltry results. Here’s what our readers had to say:
Hazel M. Wheeler, via wweek.com: “I’m not a big fan of Vasquez, yet it’s been very clear that keeping ‘diversion’ as it has been in the last year isn’t working. In the state of Oregon, those with traffic violations who qualify for diversion and do not fully complete it end up with a criminal conviction and penalties. Something has to give; giving an offender what amounts to a taxi ride and warm lobby on our dime isn’t effective. If people choose to leave the facility before intake, they are making a choice not to get help.
“Our neighborhoods and quality of life can’t keep getting pushed back further because some people refuse to accept help. I do not think jail is the only correct conclusion, but allowing people to keep going back to their dealers without so much as any length of supervision is futile.”
Henry Rearden, via wweek.com: “Annnddd here it is. The so badly needed stick. Coddling substance abusers does not work. Offering treatment and deflection works when the perp understands failure to try and get better with the available help results in criminal charges. Of course, in order to make this tenable, the treatment must be readily available. Something Oregon has been long overdue on for the past 40 years.”
Finallynelson50, via Reddit: “Clearly, none of you have ever had an addiction to drugs problem. This new shit on the streets is bad. Starts out delivering an immense high and you love it. Feels like everything in your life has just disappeared. Abused sexually, physically, emotionally, childhood issues, you name it, it’s all gone for the time being. Then you notice that you need more to achieve the same high. You want to quit, but you can’t! No one except an addict knows what it feels like to get ‘SICK,’ you’d literally sell your soul to not get sick! It literally makes everything in your body excruciatingly painful like you can’t imagine. Most users you see out there are looking for the drugs so they don’t get sick. None of you know what you’re talking about. The only thing that this is going to do is keep the jails full! And that, of course, makes the government money.”
Terra Schaller, via Facebook: “I was using drugs in 2000, I got caught with pink opium, I had just turned 18. I did six years in rehab and numerous jail sanctions and still got the felony on my record. I am currently sober since May 2022, but I’m telling you, unless you want to get sober, you won’t and it will be a revolving door. You know what would probably work, though: positive reinforcements, like money for passing random drug tests or gift cards or maybe something like that juvenile program that gave 1,000 bucks a month to kids to get them off the streets and into housing and get into school or jobs. If you’re gonna spend a ton of money, might as well spend it on programs that might work. I’ve noticed lockers are such a godsend to homeless, you can store your stuff and go get a job; my favorite place to do missionary work was Missoula, which had lockers and pretty at-will showers.”
TEACH BIKE RIDERS TRAFFIC LAWS
Bike buses are a great idea [“Tour de Tots,” WW, Nov. 26]. This is a perfect time to teach bike riders traffic laws, specifically, the fact that pedestrians always have the right of way and all bikes must stop for red lights. This is included in ODOT’s Oregon Bicycling Manual and might even save lives.
Steve Price
Northeast Portland
CHANGE THE CULTURE OF ENTITLED DRIVERS
One glaring omission from this discussion is Portland’s culture of “the rules don’t apply to me.” We have a persistent disregard for the public commons: smoking outside a restaurant right next to the “no smoking” sign, or letting dogs run around off leash. Those behaviors are mostly annoyances, but when this attitude extends to driving, it can break bones and end lives. Too many drivers are fumbling with phones, driving intoxicated, speeding, and running red lights. In 2023, 60 people were killed in traffic crashes in Portland, and 58% of those involved speeding. This does not account for serious injuries.
Changing a culture is very hard, and not something government can do directly. However, better infrastructure, increased enforcement, and much better communication from the city will go a long way.
Ben Seigel
North Portland
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P.O. Box 10770
Portland, OR 97296
Email: amesh@wweek.com
