OPB has jumped the shark
Here's an awful excuse for an article that it took two people to write for Oregon Public Broadcasting. The gist of it – and it's not labeled as an opinion piece – is that drug decriminalization, Oregon Measure 110, was a great idea that would have worked except for incompetence and indifference by the state bureaucrats who were supposed to implement it. Oh, and it's the cops' fault, too.
What a crock.
It's full of Tera Hurst this, Tera Hurst that. So lazy. So slanted.
Without a $1 billion upfront investment, which everybody knew wasn't happening, Measure 110 was a terrible idea that was never going to work. I tried to warn people. Many others tried, too.
I used to respect OPB as a news source, but lately they've been changing my opinion about that, and this is the last straw.
once upon a time law enforcement went after the crooks the sold drugs
ReplyDeleteMy dad was a meth addict for 30 years from the late '70s until he died at the age of 65 sometime around 2008. During that time he was divorced by multiple wives and kicked out by multiple girlfriends, lost all of his healthy, non-using friends and eventually had no relationship with me, his only child. However, his parents suck by him until the end. I guess in today's parlance you could say they were practicing "harm reduction" when it came to dealing with him. The rest of the family called it what it was - enabling him. Different times. He too became homeless around the time I was in high school. At one point he made the local news due to his involvement in a shooting. The newscasters referred to him as a transient. He was nobody's "houseless neighbor". When he was diagnosed with cancer, I did travel to see him one last time before he died. At that point both my grandparents were alive, in their 90s and suffering from dementia, and he was living back at home, much as he did off and on over the last 30 years. When I arrived at their house, there must have been at least a dozen addicts living there in addition to my dad and grandparents. Very similar to some of the encampments we see around Portland today - full of addicts without a place of their own. Not a pleasant environment for my grandparents in there "golden years". Which finally brings me to my point - if the city of Portland insists on taking on the responsibility of trying to clean up every addict out there, it will be met with the same results - 30 years of chaos and destruction that will never stop. The only difference is that my grandparents only had 1 addict child and when he died that was the end of it. In Portland's case it will never end because there will always be new addicts taking the place of those who have cleaned up or worse, died. It's sad, and I'm not a monster (or Republican/conservative), but nothing the city or state does will ever be enough. And in the meantime, just like my grandparents the rest of us will have a lower quality of life as a result.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing. I have only seen tough love work, where you forcibly remove the person from the drugs/environment and let their brain reprogram. Not 100% for sure, but much more effective than expecting somebody to "wise up".
DeleteTera Hurst has done an astronomical amount of damage to our state. I can’t believe media types would even interview her after her massive failure with measure 110. It’s time to fully repeal the nonsense, and increase punishments.
ReplyDeleteWhat I can't believe is how she's the media go-to for every story when she has absolutely zero credentials regarding public health. She was Charlie Hales's chief lackey. A political hack.
Delete"This article was produced in partnership with ProPublica’s Local Reporting Network."
ReplyDeleteWhen you see those words, you know you're gonna get some biased BS.
Meanwhile, Potlanders continue to deny Drugtopia is a complete failure.
ReplyDeleteIt is all one big circle jerk, whether you got one or don't. This crowd is doubling down because they lack the guts to admit they are DEAD wrong.
ReplyDeletePerfect
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