Totally Democrat-ruled Oregon legalizes possession & use of formerly illegal drugs. Results? Ooohhh..

Oregon is the ultimate wokie nirvana: Democrat governor is an open lesbian, Dems rule the legislature, Dem voters in the Portland area control the state.

So how's all that Democrat control working out?  You've all heard about the total anarchy in Portland--old news.  The new news is that we learn that Oregon has the second-highest drug-addiction rate among U.S. states, with nearly one in five adults addicted.

One out of FIVE adults addicted.  Wow.  But it has nothing to do with Dem policies.  Nope nope nope.  Totally coincidence.

Democrats blame the huge addiction rate on Global Warming.  Climate change.  Donald Trump.  "Putin's price hikes."  Anything but Democrat policies.  It could not possibly be due to those, eh?

So with such a staggering addiction rate, in November 2020 liberal voters passed Measure 110, the "Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act."

Hey, who could possibly oppose helping drug addicts "recover," eh?

Of course if you're a regular reader of this blog you know that bills and ballot measures pushed by Democrats are always given names that are both innocuous and far removed from what the bill or ballot measure actually does.  So what were the key "action items" of a measure the Dems called the "Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act," eh?

First, Measure 110 decriminalized possession of "small amounts" of hard drugs such as heroin, meth, cocaine and fentanyl.  Cuz it's just not fair to make some drugs illegal when alcohol is legal, right?  That legalization took effect on 1 Feb 2021--just ten days after biden was installed.

Second, Measure 110 created a luscious $300 MILLION pot of money for connected Democrats starting organizations purporting to treat addiction.

Of course that's not how the thing was presented to voters.  Here's the pitch, right from the state's website:

The purpose of Measure 110 is to make screening health assessment, treatment and recovery services for drug addiction available to all those who need and want access to those services; and to adopt a health approach to drug addiction by removing criminal penalties for low-level drug possession.

When they passed the ballot measure, the people of Oregon recognized drug addiction and overdoses are a serious problem in Oregon; and that we need to expand access to drug treatment.  A health-based approach to addiction and overdose is more effective, humane and cost-effective than criminal punishments.  Making people criminals because they suffer from addiction is expensive, ruins lives and can make access to treatment and recovery more difficult.

Note that cunning wording:  "Making people criminals because they suffer from addiction..."  It's cunning because it removes all personal choices and agency from addicts.  See, citizen, addicts are the real victims here.  Did a junkie steal your wife's jewelry?  Not their fault.  Stop pretending *you're* the victim, hater, when the real victim is the poor addict, who had no choice!

Unless I'm missing something, non-addicts freely chose to use illegal drugs before they became addicted, eh?  It's why we used to hear people say "Don't use drugs," before Democrats started calling that "too judgmental."

In addition to getting citizens to view addicts as having no choice, the Dems running Oregon did something else positive: Measure 110 ordered the Health Department to set up dozens of "Addiction Recovery Centers."  But the Dem wokies said calling those centers "Addiction Recovery" centers would make addicts less willing to go there.  Cuz some unenlightened folks have a negative association to the word "addiction."  

So the state changed the name of those dozens of centers to "Behavioral Health Resource Networks."  Thanks to this very woke change, the number of addicts seeking treatment and recovery immediately increased by zero percent.  Yay!

Mike Marshall, co-founder and director of Oregon Recovers--one of the many organizations that got money from the state's $300 million fund--dismisses the dismal numbers of addicts who have supposedly "recovered" thanks to the $300 million money pot created by Measure 110.  (That number is 24.)

"It was never designed to reduce our addiction rates," says the director of 'Oregon Recovers.' "It was always meant to deal with the war on drugs."

There you have it.  From the title of Measure 110 you thought it was about reducing addiction, helping addicts recover, eh?  Nope.  Mike corrects you: It was "always" about "dealing" with the "war on drugs"--by simply legalizing the most addictive, damaging drugs, and letting clever Dems--like Mike Marshall--cash in by claiming to "treat" addiction.

Tera Hurst is another good liberal eager to get some of that $300 million to "help addicts recover."  She's executive director of a thing called the "Health Justice Recovery Alliance," which is "working to implement Measure 110."  She says any criticism of the measure for failing to help is premature, because only 10% of $300 million of the money stated to be used by Measure 110 has actually been spent so far.  So $30 mill spent, 24 addicts "treated."  What a bargain.

Tera explains that the numbers are low because so far what Measure 110 has funded is "recovery and harm reduction services."  Sorry, wasn't that the stated point all along?  Can you be more specific?

Sure: The first $30 million in grants was spent on "needle exchange programs" (there's no "exchange," an agency just gives addicts new, clean needles and syringes), "peer-to-peer counseling," and even giving addicts Narcan kits (the antidote for people who overdose on heroin or fentanyl).

Oh, and..."support housing."  Wait, what's that?  It's giving addicts homes so they can be comfortably housed when they shoot up.  See, the state wanted a way to fund free public housing for the myriads of homeless in Portland, but voters weren't fond of that.  But by calling this "support" housing, and linking it to "health measures," they got it in without anyone objecting.

Clever, eh?

But don't worry, citizen: these are just preliminary measures.  After they've gotten every addict housed and supplied with needles and "peer counseling" then they'll move to the "treatment" phase.  Oh wait, did we spend the full $300 million?  No problem: voters will approve more.  Cuz who could possibly oppose something named the "Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act," eh?

Meanwhile the DA of one county says after Measure 110 decriminalized drug possession and use, both property crime and violent crime have increased.  Democrats claim this is just a coincidence.  But unsurprisingly, addicts are almost never able to hold a job, but still demand their drugs.

Say, you don't suppose they steal to feed their addiction, do ya?  Nah, that's crazy talk--at least in Dem-ruled Oregon.  Democrats are way smahtah than that.