I’m still thinking about what happened two weeks ago.
Eleven overdoses downtown in one day, including three deaths. All within a couple of weeks of @PortlandPolice warning us about downtown frequent flyers: dealers repeatedly arrested, but back on the streets in short order.
This addiction crisis is leaving a devastating toll behind, from those suffering on our streets to families concluding moving away from the chaos is their only option.
In the years after Measure 110’s adoption, it has become crystal clear we must immediately recalibrate how we address the selling and abuse of fentanyl, meth, and other life and community-shattering drugs on our streets.
Our criminal justice system as a whole needs to step-up to the crisis. This means locking up meth/fentanyl dealers and keeping them off the streets.
In that spirit, I was glad to see the Portland Police’s action on SW Washington downtown, cleaning out a known problem. That’s an important step to take, but we have a long road ahead of us.
Saving our city and the people in it starts right here.
https://t.co/nTCvbC5w20
Criminals drive another icon, REI, out of Portland despite substantial energies by our city’s economic development team to retain them.
The city is investing in police officers, but we need sustained investment by public partners in criminal justice and commitment to restoring rule of law in the city of Portland.
We continue to enable the drug use/theft cycle & we must reverse it to restore livability here.
https://t.co/ZCnhNvIWne