The number of overdose fatalities increased over the 90 days when Portland, Oregon, authorities proclaimed a state of emergency. The locals are beginning to doubt that the steps made to combat the fentanyl crisis have been successful.
To address the critical public health and safety crisis created by fentanyl, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler (D), Governor Tina Kotek (D), and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson (D) signed emergency measures on January 30.
The three emergency orders prompted the state, local, and county governments to pool their resources in response to an increase in overdose fatalities after the drug legalization bill was put into effect in 2020.
Fentanyl overdose rates have skyrocketed in the state, increasing way over a thousand percent since the year 2019. As a result, it has the nation’s highest rate of disastrous growth among all states.
Most Oregonians backed the passing of Measure 110 when the measure was first introduced, but new surveys show that even after three years, many regret their choice.
Now, possession of even trace quantities of narcotics became punishable by law, according to a measure that Kotek signed in April.
The fentanyl epidemic was addressed during the 90-day timeframe by establishing a command center. Statistics from the Multnomah County overdose site show that around 200 people died as a result of overdoses.
Many people assume that fentanyl is the cause of drug overdose fatalities.
Portland freelance journalist Kevin Dahlgren has photographed some of the city’s pathetic moments. He recorded a man who frantically tried to gather fentanyl dust off of a disgusting sidewalk. Dahlgren also recorded a heroic rescue efforts after a man’s fentanyl overdose in late June.
Photos taken by local artist Tara Faul show how public immorality and drug use go unpunished, in sharp contrast to parking fines, which are strictly enforced. According to her, the city doesn’t have a problem with smoking fentanyl while defecating on the sidewalk.
One Portland-area writer, Hannah Griff, has been outspoken in her opposition to the emergency measures, drawing attention to the government’s nonsensical assertion that institutional racism is to blame for fentanyl fatalities. She wrote in a February tweet that Oregon governor Tina Kotek, instead of addressing the problem of open-air drug usage in Portland, blames systemic racism for the rise in fentanyl overdoses.
