{"id":1660793,"date":"2022-09-27T16:05:46","date_gmt":"2022-09-27T20:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1660793"},"modified":"2022-09-27T16:07:12","modified_gmt":"2022-09-27T20:07:12","slug":"oregon-spent-300-million-on-drug-addict-services-experts-tell-lawmakers-its-not-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/oregon-spent-300-million-on-drug-addict-services-experts-tell-lawmakers-its-not-working\/","title":{"rendered":"Oregon Spent $300 Million On Drug Addict Services, Experts Tell Lawmakers It\u2019s Not Working"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">28<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Foregon-spent-300-million-on-drug-addict-services-experts-tell-lawmakers-its-not-working%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1660793&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Oregon has spent more than $300 million on services for drug addicts, but experts are warning lawmakers that the state\u2019s efforts are not working.<\/p>\n<p>Since Oregon effectively decriminalized drugs in 2020, the state has poured about $302 million into addiction and social services\u00a0for addicts, but the overdose death rate has only risen, largely driven by an influx of fentanyl.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, the Oregon Health Authority (OHA)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.opb.org\/article\/2022\/09\/20\/oregon-measure-110-drug-decriminalization-substance-abuse-treatment\/\">announced<\/a> that it had finally awarded the $302 million to nonprofits working to combat addiction.\u00a0The funding was the first round of grants awarded under\u00a0Oregon\u2019s drug decriminalization <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlegislature.gov\/lpro\/Publications\/Background-Brief-Measure-110-(2020).pdf\">law<\/a>, Measure 110, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of most hard drugs, including cocaine, heroin, LSD, and methamphetamine.<\/p>\n<p>The law\u2019s grant program <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opb.org\/article\/2022\/09\/20\/oregon-measure-110-drug-decriminalization-substance-abuse-treatment\/\">uses<\/a> tax dollars from marijuana sales for addiction services. The grant money goes to pay for services not covered by Medicaid, such as outreach, peer mentors, housing, and clean needles for intravenous drug use.<\/p>\n<p>On Wednesday, two addiction experts told lawmakers that the state\u2019s lenient approach to the addiction crisis has not been enough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOn the one hand we have highly rewarding drugs which are widely available, and on the other little or no pressure to stop using them,\u201d Keith Humphreys, a Stanford University psychology professor, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.opb.org\/article\/2022\/09\/21\/oregon-decriminalize-drugs-measure-110-addiction-treatment\/\">told<\/a> Oregon\u2019s Senate Committee on the Judiciary and Ballot Measure 110 Implementation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUnder those conditions we should expect to see exactly what Oregon is experiencing: extensive drug use, extensive addiction and not much treatment seeking,\u201d Humphreys said.<\/p>\n<p>Another addiction expert who testified emphasized that law enforcement, along with better treatment and addiction prevention infrastructure, must play a part in combating the crisis.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe illicit fentanyl and methamphetamine challenges require sophisticated approaches to slow the inflow of drugs into Oregon,\u201d said\u00a0Dr. Todd Korthuis, Oregon Health &#038; Science University\u2019s head of addiction medicine,\u00a0according to his <a href=\"https:\/\/olis.oregonlegislature.gov\/liz\/2021I1\/Downloads\/CommitteeMeetingDocument\/256921\">written<\/a> testimony.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe can\u2019t compete with a rapidly changing drug supply chain without law enforcement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Korthius also said that Measure 110 had decreased drug-related arrests by nearly 90%, but more people aren\u2019t getting into treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose who survive experimentation can quickly become addicted,\u201d Korthuis said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite the best efforts and good intentions of many, our addiction treatment system has been outpaced by these trends,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, Oregon had the second highest drug use rate in the country, just barely behind Montana, <a href=\"https:\/\/oregoncapitalchronicle.com\/2022\/02\/07\/oregon-has-worst-drug-addiction-problem-in-the-nation-report-shows\/\">according<\/a> to the\u00a0latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health.<\/p>\n<p>Oregon was also the worst state for drug addiction treatment access in 2020, with 18% of people unable to get access to treatment, up from close to 9% in 2019, according to the survey.<\/p>\n<p>Last year, deaths from drug overdoses in Oregon rose by more than a third to more than 1,060, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/nchs\/nvss\/vsrr\/drug-overdose-data.htm\">according<\/a> to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).<\/p>\n<p>Oregon\u2019s health agency was also criticized for not distributing the money fast enough as the crisis worsened and overdose deaths ticked up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe understand the frustration this caused in our communities,\u201d said\u00a0Steve Allen, OHA\u2019s behavioral health director. \u201cWhen you do something for the first time you\u2019re going to make mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just newer drugs like fentanyl driving Oregon\u2019s addiction crisis, either. Older drugs like methamphetamine have also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/dont-forget-about-the-other-drug-crisis\">seen<\/a> a resurgence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oregon has spent more than $300 million on services for drug addicts, but experts are warning lawmakers that the state\u2019s efforts are not working. Since Oregon effectively decriminalized drugs in 2020, the state has poured about $302 million into addiction and social services\u00a0for addicts, but the overdose death rate has only risen, largely driven by &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1660795,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1660793","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1660793","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1660793"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1660793\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1660795"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1660793"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1660793"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1660793"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}