Oregon: drug legalization

[beej]

https://www.foxnews.com/us/portland-drug-decriminalization-effort-tragedy

Heroin, meth and fentanyl use is rampant and often visible on city streets. Portland police officers drive by homeless addicts buying and using.

The signs of drug addiction are actually increasing throughout the state, according to law enforcement sources. Oregon ranks second-highest among U.S. states for substance abuse with nearly one in five adults addicted. 

In November 2020, voters overwhelmingly passed Measure 110. The Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act secured 58% of the votes and decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs such as heroin, meth, cocaine and fentanyl.



The new law made possession of those substances no more than a Class E violation, the equivalent of a traffic ticket punishable by a maximum $100 fine. But the fine is dismissed when someone who is fined calls a help hotline, Lines for Life, and completes a health assessment. The idea is to connect drug abusers with services and treatment instead of putting them behind bars. 

Sixteen months into this first-in-the-nation experiment, the numbers paint a bleak picture. Drug overdose deaths hit an all-time high in 2021 with 1069, a 41% increase from 2020. And very few people are getting into treatment. According to The Lund Report, after one year, just 136 people had entered treatment, less than 1% of those helped by Measure 110. But the actual number may be even lower.

this made me wonder how these stats compared to other places. Missouri OD deaths were up 9% in 2021

[Jeff]

Fuck em. They voted on it, they did this to themselves.
Thin the herd.

[pmartin]

decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs such as heroin, meth, cocaine and fentanyl.

Do they know just how small an amount of Fentanyl is lethal? 2 milligrams!

[mkd]

Interesting how certain weapons of mass destruction are canonized in lefty communes and others like the right to self determination and self defense are the boogeyman.

[neurosis]

certain weapons of mass destruction

Have you been watching Boebert video's?   

[neurosis]

Am I the only a-hole who thinks that if people want to kill themselves with drugs, more power to them? 

[Tim Johnson]

Am I the only a-hole who thinks that if people want to kill themselves with drugs, more power to them? 

I'm not sure if very many people WANT to kill themselves with drugs but if they do die it was their choice to ride the tiger.

[mkd]

Do they know just how small an amount of Fentanyl is lethal? 2 milligrams!

I'm old enough to remember the Tylenol cyanide poisonings. There is libertarianism of decriminalization which i generally agree with, then there are lunatics legally carrying a WMD. Will there be red flag laws for fentanyl?

[Tim Johnson]

I was told the the doctors give fentanyl to the patients when they're doing a colonoscopy. You would think they could find something else.

[neurosis]

I'm old enough to remember the Tylenol cyanide poisonings

I had to look that up. I don't remember the case in 1982. There was a case in my State where a woman put tainted Excedrin bottles around the area to kill her husband.

I went to school with their daughter. It was big news at our school at the time.


https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/wash-woman-poisoned-husband-planted-tainted-pills-1986-article-1.3163801

[mkd]

I was told the the doctors give fentanyl to the patients when they're doing a colonoscopy. You would think they could find something else.

my wife had that administered during recent lung biopsy

[beej]

my wife had that administered during recent lung biopsy

My wife was given fentanyl for kidney stones a few months ago. they had tried other drugs first but nothing was alleviating the pain. I'm not sure what the dosage was, though.

[beej]

Am I the only a-hole who thinks that if people want to kill themselves with drugs, more power to them? 

We tend to think that about other people's kids but not our own.

I volunteered at a house that took care of babies born addicted to meth and\or coke. It was heartbreaking.

Even when the drugs are legal, they still have to be purchased somehow. People will do all kinds of illegal things in order to get their next fix. That often involves stealing from people who chose not to kill themselves with drugs. Surely I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

[neurosis]

Surely I'm not telling you anything you don't already know.

Yes. I spent a decent part of my life living with a drug addict/addicts and dealers. I was a drug addict myself until I turned 18. That's probably why I don't have a lot of sympathy and am probably a little more jaded than I should be when it comes to drug addiction.

I quit right before my 18th b-day. There is a story about why, but it's probably unbelievable enough of a story that I'm not sure I'd want to tell it.  

If I had a child that was addicted to drugs I probably wouldn't be so harsh.

[beej]

Yes. I spent a decent part of my life living with a drug addict/addicts and dealers. I was a drug addict myself until I turned 18. That's probably why I don't have a lot of sympathy and am probably a little more jaded than I should be when it comes to drug addiction.

I quit right before my 18th b-day. There is a story about why, but it's probably unbelievable enough of a story that I'm not sure I'd want to tell it.  

If I had a child that was addicted to drugs I probably wouldn't be so harsh.

I'd love to hear that story. I hear a lot of fascinating, maybe even miraculous stories from some of the ministries I'm involved with.