Oregon county will give drug users tin foil, straws, glass pipes
“I think it’s amazing that we can look past our traumas to help them through theirs
By Jeffrey Lindblom
Click here for updates on this story
PORTLAND, Oregon (KPTV) — Multnomah County is planning on offering additional resources for people who use drugs as opioid overdoses in Oregon have been on the rise for the last five years.
The Oregon Health Authority reports more than a thousand overdose deaths and 9,000 emergency room visits in 2021 alone.
To help combat this, counties across the country have been implementing so-called “harm reduction” practices. According to the CDC, harm reduction is a public health approach to reduce the harm that comes with drug use, such as infectious diseases and overdoses. The approach can include giving out sterile syringes and distribution of Naloxone – an overdose medication – and fentanyl testing strips. Organizations like the CDC and Johns Hopkins say offering harm reduction supplies helps link users to care and treatment services.
Since 2019, Multnomah County has given out syringes and offered testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases. The county says it’s seen a big decrease in the use of syringes in recent years, and a rise in smoking and snorting.
To bridge the gap between those who inject drugs and who smoke, Multnomah County will now offer smoking supplies.
The county says, “offering these supplies does not mean people will start using substances. Syringe access does not mean that people will start injecting, just as offering condoms does not encourage young people to start having sex.”
The resources will include things like tin foil and straws for opioid users, glass pipes for those who use methamphetamine or crack or snorting kits with spoons, straws and even a surface.
DJ is a drug user living in Portland and said, “I get emotional when I talk about things that are near and dear to my heart. I’m not proud to say it, but I am a user.”
He, and several others who live on the street who FOX 12 spoke with are in favor of Multnomah County upping resources for users.
“I think it’s amazing that we can look past our traumas to help them through theirs,” Curtis Bear Cub, a recovering addict, said.
“Portland has people who actually care. Who really, really care,” DJ added.
FOX 12 asked Bear Cub if he feels there is a drug problem on the streets.
“No,” he replied. “I think there’s a compassion problem. Seems I recognize in other people what I see in myself. So, what I’d say to people in recovery is just keep trying.”
The county hopes that by distributing the paraphernalia to users it will encourage them to seek further resources.
“I don’t want to be out on the streets,” said a man who goes by ‘G.’ “Last time I was out on the streets, I went to prison. Some people choose to be out on the street, though. When you ask them, they choose to be that way.”
Despite G’s best efforts, he said he wound up on the streets again and is “just a little depressed right now.”
G does praise Portland for its available resources but believes more can be done. He is on board for the county’s harm reduction plan.
Meanwhile, DJ said he’s just happy to get any support he can, because it’s not easy living on the streets.
“I love all of you guys,” he said emotionally to those who have helped him.
The county says the shift to include these drug supplies began this week.
Meanwhile, Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a tweet that he adamantly opposes distributing paraphernalia to encourage a drug that is responsible for 190 overdoses a day in the United States.
City Commissioner Rene Gonzalez echoed Wheeler on Saturday, posting on Twitter that, “…little to no consideration is given to the impact on the surrounding community as long as an initiative is centered on the “client” – the homeless, the criminal, or the addict.”
Please note: This content carries a strict local market embargo. If you share the same market as the contributor of this article, you may not use it on any platform.
