Electing radical Democrats or letting them set policy is akin to actively deciding to be your own worst enemy.
That’s because so many of their preferred policies are pure poison when it comes to fostering a safe and productive society.
Now Oregon just issued a state of emergency and the reason why was entirely predictable.
The Gulf Coast gets hurricanes, the interior Midwest often has to deal with tornadoes and the Rocky Mountains are prone to blizzards.
One of California’s many disasters is the occurrence of earthquakes.
All of these are naturally-occurring phenomena that occasionally require the issuance of states of emergency.
Locals in each of these respective locations may not like that these things happen, but little can be done to avoid them.
What’s happening in the Beaver State is an entirely different animal altogether.
Oregon voters approved Measure 110 with a 58% majority in 2020.
The measure decriminalized possession of powerful drugs like cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, provided that they are in small amounts.
Those caught with less than a gram of heroin or less than two grams of meth are issued a mere $100 fine.
Even that laughable fine can be avoided by calling a treatment referral number and agreeing to participate in a health assessment.
The idea behind this push to decriminalize was to establish a drug-treatment program funded by tax revenue from marijuana sales.
Trash, excrement, biohazards are everywhere after hard drug decriminalization
By any objective standard, this entire boondoggle has been an unmitigated disaster.
Even the New York Times was forced to report, “On her walk to work at Forte Portland, a coffee shop and wine bar that she operates with her brother in the sunken lobby of a commercial building, Jennifer Myrle sidesteps needles, shattered glass and human feces.”
Stories like this are everywhere and increasing in number.
District Attorney: The drug legalization law isn’t working
Washington County district attorney Kevin Barton said, “We’ve had three years of this law that has not delivered on the promise that voters thought they were getting.”
Now, Governor Tina Kotek (D), Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson (D), and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D) each declared an emergency because the completely out-of-control fentanyl problem.
Kotek wrote in her declaration, “Development of a system to efficiently track and coordinate existing resources to assist people impacted by fentanyl use should be completed in not more than 90 days.”
The declaration reads like an admission of complete and total failure.
CBS News reports that since 2020 overdose cases in the state have gotten far worse.
Haven Wheelock is a harm reduction manager of the medical and youth care nonprofit center Outside In and says, “This is a crisis that has been developing for decades. And if this is what it’s going to take to get the attention and the care and the funding and the coordination that this tragic issue deserves, then I’m going to remain hopeful about that.”
Getting treatment for addicts to turn their lives around is certainly a noble and lofty goal, but it should be remembered what exacerbated the drug problem in a major way in the last three years.
One silver lining in all of this is that it is now patently obvious just how wrong-headed the practice of decriminalizing dangerous drugs has turned out to be.
Here’s to hoping political leaders in other states are watching closely and paying attention.
Stay tuned to Blue State Blues for any updates to this ongoing story.
