Oregon decriminalized hard drugs – early results aren’t encouraging
<i>And Oregon’s drug problems have not improved. Last year, the state experienced one of the sharpest rises in overdose deaths in the nation and had one of the highest percentages of adults with a substance-use disorder.</i><p>Hardly shocking. I would be interested in seeing data -- if it&#x27;s available -- on how much that uptick is due to people with addictions moving to the state in hopes of reducing the odds of ending up in jail over their uncontrollable compulsion to imbibe.<p><i>But three years later, with rising overdoses and delays in treatment funding, even some of the measure’s supporters now believe that the policy needs to be changed.</i><p>Three years is not a lot of time to give this a chance to work, especially with delays in funding. If you aren&#x27;t even really providing the programs you said you would, then declaring it a failure is a joke. You never gave it a real chance.<p><i>The new approach emphasizes reducing overdoses, stopping the spread of infectious disease, and providing drug users with the resources they need—counseling, housing, transportation—to stabilize their lives and gain control over their drug use.</i><p>Not enough emphasis on identifying the actual root cause of the drug use which <i>may</i> be infection. They are probably worried about things like spreading HIV by needle sharing, not &quot;So, does this person have an undiagnosed infection for which their drug of choice is medical treatment?&quot;<p>Also: Are they <i>building</i> substantial amounts of new affordable housing with good access to transit and essentials like nearby grocery stores? Without that, trying to help homeless people get housing is a joke. If the housing they need simply does not exist, no amount of acting like homeless people are merely badly behaved and need to try harder fixes fuck all.