Page 14 - Tera Hurst News Today

In a groundbreaking move, in 2020, Oregon voters approved the decriminalization of personal use amounts of all illicit drugs, with Measure 110 passing with a healthy 59 percent of the vote. That made Oregon the first state in the U.S. to make this dramatic break after decades of the war on drugs. No...

Portland, OR – November 3, 2021 – Today is the one-year anniversary of the passage of

Portland, OR – November 3, 2021 – Today is the one-year anniversary of the passage of

By decriminalizing drugs and putting money toward treatment, Measure 110 promised a brighter future for Oregonians with addiction. But early data suggests one big component is not working.

The state’s experiment with decriminalizing hard drugs has connected few people with treatment options. But officials urge patience for results as COVID-19 may have impacted participation so far.

Knudson and Hurst: Measure 110 started strong, but Oregon still has an addiction crisis, Local Opinion, Portland local Opinion, Breaking Opinion alerts for Portland city.

Knudson and Hurst: Measure 110 started strong, but Oregon still has an addiction crisis, Local Opinion, Portland local Opinion, Breaking Opinion alerts for Portland city.

How do you open a brick-and-mortar restaurant in the middle of a pandemic—and thrive? One answer: Break the paradigm and go co-op, à la Mirisata, Portland’s only Sri Lankan restaurant, which is also vegan and entirely BIPOC- and worker-owned. The SE Belmont spot’s prospective owners prove themselves not with a fat wad of start-up cash, but via a few months of a trial working period. During the height of the pandemic, Mirisata went from pop-up to brick-and-mortar restaurant us...

Organizations included community-based nonprofits and government entities. “We are very impressed with the quality of the proposals that were submitted by organizations who will provide these urgently needed, culturally responsive substance use services,” OHA Behavioral Health director Steve Allen said in a news release. “The need is great and I’m looking forward to the work the OAC is doing to develop the next grant opportunity to ensure these services are expanded to meet the needs o...

Now, if you’re caught with one or two grams of what some refer to as “hard drugs”, you won’t be charged. Instead, you’ll either pay a maximum $100 dollar fine, or complete a health assessment within 45 days at an addiction recovery center. This new system for services will be funded through the state’s marijuana tax. But the measure is still controversial, and members of Oregon’s addiction and recovery community are split on if it’s a good idea. So how did we get here? How Did T...