Drug abuse in Oregon

Riley Moulton & Caitlin McDermott

April 3, 2024

Cities in Oregon are filled with residents that are struggling with substance abuse. They walk around the streets and neighborhoods throughout the night and the morning.    

Drug abuse is when someone that is already doing drugs does it too much, and may cause an overdose. Drugs are known for increasing mental health issues.       

"There are a number of key indicators of community drug use: community safety, incarceration, and increases in mental health problems," Shana Moulton, who had experiences with drugs in the past said.     

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In the 70’s, the population who abused drugs rose in Portland, and people often went homeless during that time. This is mainly because of the lack of education and supervision on drugs.

The Oregonian published a report on how bad drugs were in the 70’s. The cops did not have any guidance on how to educate children on drugs, and no supervision when it came to confiscating drugs. 

Past choices  really had a big impact on modern day Portland and surrounding areas due to that lack of supervision and education. Portland was not a safe place for anyone. 

’’Everybody was drinking and having fun, whatever the hell they wanted,’’ Officer Robert Clary, of the Portland Police department said.                 

Even his own Portland Police Department admitted that the actions at that time were not ethical.  

Why did the Portland Police Department act this way?

The laws back then were not as ethical as they are today because they  were distracted with wars and  other political problems. They were not helpful to anyone, especially for the black and  brown communities living in that area.

The Global Commission on Drug Policy “cited a recent study published in the International Journal of Drug Policy that found aggressive law enforcement interventions in drug markets can markedly increase levels of violence.”

The police were not prepared to educate the public on drugs, instead having a racial impact on everybody.  Instead of actually helping with the drug problem, it made them do even more.

The campaign "Just Say No" was the saying that every American will know today. 

According to Crash Course The War on Drugs, “President Nixon was elected in 1968 in November on a Tuesday, and well, being president, he was the one to declare to the public that drugs were ‘Number One Public Enemy’ and that's when the campaign started in June 1971.”

This was getting to the point where President Nixon and the federal government decided to put a war on drugs.  Which meant  making any drug illegal, [c]and increasing the punishment for drug abuse and even having a death penalty

The drug war was just not in Oregon, it was global, and this was to stop the illegal aid in the military  and to reduce the illegal trade in the U.S. The drug war was designed to stop drugs across the United states. But what happened is that it entangled millions of black people in a criminal illegal system for generations.

The drug war addressed drug use in society began to affect black communities more directly in the 1960’s, even though president Lyndon B Johnson is best known for passing the Civil Right Act and many more. The war really ramped during Nixon's presidency.

In the 1980’s president Ronald Reagan even brought back many of the drug possession and distribution. The first lady Nancy Regan even started her own famous campaign ‘’ Just Say No’’  which was intended to address the damage of drug use. From Pins to T-Shirts  that saying was everywhere. Police officers  would go to schools to educate kids all over the united states about  the negative causes of drugs. 

But as with any campaign about the drug war there were major setbacks with this saying. It actually did not help with anything that people were dealing with.   

He has information on how his experience was in elementary when the police department came over to talk about the’’ Just Say No’’ campaign.

According to an account from the Guardian, "When a police officer came to my semi- rural elementary school in 1990 to deliver an anti- drug message, they played the video clip of Nancy Reagan's three-word mantra, ‘’Just Say No’’ distributed posters of a drug- sniffing dog, And  shared their experiences of scrapping with a drug users and dealers - always characterized as a tawdry assortment of losers and bums’’  They arrived in a black Camaro with DARE (Drug Abuse Resistance Education) scrawled on its side in the blazing faux graffiti, one officer explaining how his department had seized it from a dealer."  

And it never ended till this day congress and the public are still fighting on which drugs should be illegal and which should not.  But it's just the chargers on how long someone should be in jail for illegal substances have dropped. And the laws that were very racial were put in jail for that long a drop. 

For example, if a person had five grams of crack it would an automatic five-year sentence but a person that was white and had 500 grams of powder cocaine to trigger the same sentence, said Crash Course.

And there is many more examples about this topic everywhere, but people at that time were covering the truth about the major impact that the drug war had more than people that use illegal drugs, and that was the whole inconvenience that they were trying figure out for the passed decade, instead creating all of that laws and campaigns has, failed millions of Americans.  

Present day drugs are still having a big impact because of new deadly substances that came out on the street’s and now  world wide. Drug abuse is everywhere in the world today and there has been no improvement since the 70’s. Today finding a good house is expensive but drugs are cheaper than buying a house and getting a job  the point being when a person is addicted they are hook on one drug but there could be more than one illegal substances that is being pass around the camp and they wouldn't even know what's in that drug they would just want to be hook on any  drug that is available to them. The main part may be that their is 

low-income everywhere they were already don’t have enough money to pay for food or a house to stay in. and they could be already hooked on a drug that is not letting them leave the streets for good.  Shelters are wonderful for homeless people, but there's so many people that are homeless and not enough shelter for all of those people in that city. The condition that they may be in is not good, shelters may have all sorts of smells, because they can’t shower without having a house. 

People in shelters and their condition may become sick from being outside in harsh weather and the lack of supplies to stay healthy. That means the shelter would have to close because they don't want everyone else that isn't sick to get sick, like their employees or a family that may have a baby on could be living on the streets.

Future                    

Today people have learned what we can do in the near present in modern day Brookings  to help. Now let's look at how this out of control situation has been going on for years. 

The future has sadly had an big impact with early choices in the past, We have learned from raising the cost of time in prison based on race has not done any good for anyone, but we have learned that having lots of resources that are based on the actual problem has made an impact.

Adding a more softer response to this issue can give the future a brighter way on how to advertise drugs, like saying that (We love People That Do Drugs) so many people like that saying better because the person that may be going through addiction may be their family member your friend and they loved them and they want to make them feel as comfortable with situation as they can, so they can get into one of theses health care providers that they need.           

from all of theses harsh words a place where they may feel comfortable that there going through  addiction with illegal drugs or none illegal drugs, it doesn't matter who they may be a male or female  

An adult or a teen anybody that is in an addiction needs help matter what the situation they may be in.  And the future has held all of those wonderful operations to help these people everyday 

Someone is out there donating to a local shelter, rehab, or a homeless person. All around the world, people have been standing up to help these people, like the Recovery Village, American Addiction Centers, https://fherehab.com/ and many more that are across the globe have been helping people for the better future that they deserved, that couldn't get 58 years ago.

With the drug war being around it was hard for people to get help because they were probably in jail for illegal substances at that time. 

Deforestation from not just littering but also from building farms to plant drugs Is world wide.

The DEA Museum has years of studying on this issue to help people to gather more information to educate the public about the danger of pollution with drugs. It gives an huge example on how this is an issue world wide: "Drug trafficking organizations take advantage of impoverished regions and remote geography to hide their operations, harming some of the most sensitive environments and directly affecting people who depend on theses natural resources."

This made it clear how people are so unaware that theses chemicals being exposed to nature can have an big impact and on how the ways that people are making drug farms has a big impact on nature too. "The public is largely unaware that illegal drug production often devastates the environment," said the DEA Museum 

What can people do to decrease the amount of drug pollution by finding the right way to dispose of unwanted drugs?  

This is kind of lilerting with normally trash both have an big impact on are ecosystem and air, But their seems to have a big difference with the chemicals, Drugs were always were toxic adding to the ecosystem can be deadly, Lucky we have all of these wonderful ways to stop this 

Issue: We can’t stop  people from doing drugs. There are already health care Organizations out there trying their best. Quitting  can be a lot of pressure and leave a lot of stress for a person to think about, But we can stop the chemical exposure. https://www.oregon.gov/  talk about ‘’Managing unwanted Medications( Drugs ) “ Find a collection site drop off unwanted medicines in-person, or get a prepaid and pre addressed envelope’’ 

The https://www.fda.gov/ says ‘’To popularly dispose of drugs or unwanted medicine, expired is to drop it off at drug take-back location. If that is not an option and people's  drugs are on the FDA’s Flush list, flush it down a sink or the toilet, If that’s not the case dispose of it at home by mixing unappealing substances like cat litter, dirt or used coffee grounds. And put it in a sealed plastic bag and put the sealed bag in a household trash.         

                                                                                                                                            ‘’Investigators typically find trash and spilled chemicals on site that seep into soil, containing the surrounding area and water supply. The resulting damage to the environment takes decades to recover’’ ( DEA museum)                                         

Helping in this problem can do a lot to decrease the amount of people that are on drugs and that are homeless in most cases it can be both. Most caring citizens find that this problem in town has gone out of control. 

That's why now there are many health care providers to help with this situation, like https://adaptoregon.org/ and more that can help with either situation someone may be in. 

Here are some ways people can help with this situation: If you know someone personally struggling with drugs, let them know that people still care about them. Addiction can be really hard for a person to communicate about other people and their family.  They can be worried and embarrassed about what a person may think about them. 

Getting a person that is addicted to health care or volunteering at a local or an online health care is a great way to help as well. Try to donate to any local sources out there that may have any extra money or supplies. That is the best way to help with health care that is with need.  Donate clothes, socks, food, money, 

Photo Credit: https://drughelpline.org/drug-addiction-hotline/drug-addiction-hotline-in-wyoming/