3 ms·

So, Oregon decriminalized in 2020, but failed to stand up treatment and diversion programs as promised. And instead of doing that, they've decided it's easier

So, Oregon decriminalized in 2020, but failed to stand up treatment and diversion programs as promised. And instead of doing that, they've decided it's easier to just jail addicts again? Sounds like a total failure of government in both cases. Note: I'm not claiming decriminalization is a panacea. But, decriminalizing without robust diversion/treatment options is bound to fail just as badly as tossing all the addicts in jail.

chrchr 3y ago
Oregon's decriminalization was really badly fumbled, but it's not clear to me that it would have succeeded in the best of circumstances. Vancouver,B.C. has all the diversion/treatment options and legal use sites you could want, and they're having a lot of problems with the fentanyl wave too. They're also experiencing sky high overdose rates. I'm an Oregonian. I would have preferred that the state enacted robust enforcement of bans on public use and stood up legal use sites rather than recriminalize. I'm not sure that would be politically viable though, and "stand up legal use sites" is easy to write in a law, but it's exactly the kind of thing our public agencies have been utterly incapable of doing in recent years. Where would these legal use sites be? Near which schools, homes, and businesses? Which agency would administer them? Or rather, which agency would administer the contract to a grant-supported non-profit entity (because that's how these things work here)? How would you convince qualified people to work there? Can't be done in Oregon on any kind of timeline that would address the present crisis.
- ethbr1 3y ago
  > Where would these legal use sites be? Near which schools, homes, and businesses? Which agency would administer them? Or rather, which agency would administer the contract to a grant-supported non-profit entity (because that's how these things work here)? How would you convince qualified people to work there? Watching The Wire Season 3 play out in real life has been unfortunate. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire#Season_3 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire#Season_3

chrchr 3y ago

Oregon's decriminalization was really badly fumbled, but it's not clear to me that it would have succeeded in the best of circumstances. Vancouver,B.C. has all the diversion/treatment options and legal use sites you could want, and they're having a lot of problems with the fentanyl wave too. They're also experiencing sky high overdose rates. I'm an Oregonian. I would have preferred that the state enacted robust enforcement of bans on public use and stood up legal use sites rather than recriminalize. I'm not sure that would be politically viable though, and "stand up legal use sites" is easy to write in a law, but it's exactly the kind of thing our public agencies have been utterly incapable of doing in recent years. Where would these legal use sites be? Near which schools, homes, and businesses? Which agency would administer them? Or rather, which agency would administer the contract to a grant-supported non-profit entity (because that's how these things work here)? How would you convince qualified people to work there? Can't be done in Oregon on any kind of timeline that would address the present crisis.

ethbr1 3y ago
> Where would these legal use sites be? Near which schools, homes, and businesses? Which agency would administer them? Or rather, which agency would administer the contract to a grant-supported non-profit entity (because that's how these things work here)? How would you convince qualified people to work there? Watching The Wire Season 3 play out in real life has been unfortunate. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire#Season_3 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wire#Season_3