The Portland City Council passed an open-use drug ban Wednesday with a unanimous vote.

Not a fan of Fox, but there are stats in this article that are worth noting and I didn’t see them in the others.

Copy/pasta if you don’t want to give them the click, bolding is mine:

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) - The Portland City Council passed an open-use drug ban Wednesday with a unanimous vote.

The ordinance won’t alter BM 110, which was passed by voters in 2020 and decriminalizes the possession of hard drugs and will go into effect as soon as it’s authorized by the Oregon Legislature or a court approves the ban.

While there’s already an ordinance to ban drinking alcohol in public, the new ordinance would add controlled substances. Those who violate the ordinance could face a fine up to $500 or spend six months in jail.

During public testimony, local business leaders from across Portland expressed their frustrations in how drug use has affected them.

Jeff Miller, CEO of Travel Portland, says in 2019 hotel occupancy was 85-90% in the summer. Now four years later, occupancy is at 63%. Miller says he believes the decrease in hospitality is linked to drug dealing and usage.

“Most cities rebook 70% of those conventions in Portland. We’ve rebooked 30%. They said we’re not coming back. Portland is too dangerous,” says Miller. “If leisure in business travel do not come back you as a city, and we as an organization will see those revenues dropped dramatically.”

David Friedericks of Portland Fire & Rescue Station 1 says his station alone responded to a total of 76 overdose calls over Labor Day weekend and calls the high volume of calls is disheartening.

“In some cases we treat the same patient in the same week. And we know through our partners of AMR, that the same patient has overdosed multiple times in a day,” says Friedericks. “I know that even when we try to help, our help is unwanted, wares on all of us.”

Tony Vezina of 4D Recovery Services says he doesn’t think the ban will be efficient.

“It may just kind of hide addicts. I was an addict; I was on the street before I had to hide,” says Vezina. “It may create a limited intervention that is only applied to people we can see in downtown Portland smoking in front of businesses using fatal or high addictive drugs.”

Vezina believes there needs to be a sensible intervention and bring in additional resources to prevent people from getting addicted provide treatment are and provide long-term recovery support.

  • tsonfeir@lemm.eeEnglish
    71·
    1 year ago

    While I agree with you, they never ended up getting them help. So now they’re smoking on my doorstep—literally—and they still have no resources.

    You can have the drugs. You can do they drugs. But if you do them and someone can see you—jail. What did we give all those tents out for?

    • wheresmypillow@lemmy.oneEnglish
      3·
      1 year ago

      Definitely need some course correction. The current solution isn’t tenable, but I’m hopeful for better outcomes.

      • tsonfeir@lemm.eeEnglish
        52·
        1 year ago

        When? Next decade? They’re not doing anything. Absolutely nothing.

        • Make drugs legal.
        • hand out tents
        • allow people to park makeshift trailers on residential streets
        • ignore all pleas from locals to get git rid of meth labs and homeless camps outside their homes
        • stop responding to 911 calls pretty much at all (try calling 911. Lmk how long it takes)

        Whatever I can go on and on.

        I get that Portland is trying not to fuck with the people at the bottom, but if they don’t do anything, that’s all they’ll have left.

        I say this as I browse for housing outside of Oregon because I’m sick of mentally ill drug addicts screaming out all night long as they wander the streets around me.

          • tsonfeir@lemm.eeEnglish
            11·
            1 year ago

            Where can I find information on the status, due date, and how the money is being spent?

              • tsonfeir@lemm.eeEnglish
                11·
                1 year ago

                Pointless. No mental health? Lol. This is just a clinic and no one will do anything with the money besides pocket it.

                Got an address. Of one? A date? Nah

                  • tsonfeir@lemm.eeEnglish
                    11·
                    1 year ago

                    Which one of these would be the one who gets the homeless people downstairs off the street and off of drugs? Every night one of them is pacing the block, screaming at the top of their lungs as they argue with themselves for hours. I need sleep.

                    • homeless
                    • drug addict (probably)
                    • mentally Ill

                    Feel bad for them…. But I’m not going to suffer with them.

    • HRDS_654@lemmy.world
      41·
      1 year ago

      This was the biggest problem I had with decriminalized drug use, Portland did not have the infrastructure to support people when the bill was voted on so instead of helping people we just made neighborhoods more dangerous for people.

        • HRDS_654@lemmy.world
          32·
          1 year ago

          Yeah, drug possession isn’t what I was talking about. I don’t really care if people do drugs because it’s their choice. I don’t really do drugs because, from a personal standpoint, I don’t like how even alcohol or caffeine (which I do take) effect my brain. I’m saying if someone can do meth outside my front door and put me and my family in danger it ceases to be about a person’s personal choice because it is now effecting others. And before anyone points it out, I am well aware that this sounds like I’m being selfish, but this isn’t actually about me. I know for a fact that others feel this way. They are worried that they will be assaulted because they can’t do anything about these people, either helping them or defending themselves, and the people who can help the people who need it can’t or won’t.