Once upon a time, it was illegal to possess drugs in Portland. Then, some progressives thought it was just fine to walk around with small amounts of hard drugs, to include favorites like fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine in one’s pocket on the city streets. In a matter of days, doing so will be illegal once again.
Why? Because, the “smart”, “party of education”, Progressive Democrats in Portland realized that-wait for it-drugs are bad. What is Multnomah County doing in conjunction with making possession illegal on September 1? Glad you’ve asked. They are putting up a “deflection center”.
A “deflection center” is intended to offer a path toward treating substance use disorders as primarily a health care issue, rather than sending people into the criminal justice system because, heaven forbid, we send someone to jail for possessing illegal drugs. The center was supposed to open soon…but now, opening the center has been postponed until October and Portland Mayor, Ted Wheeler, is not happy and voiced his opinion yesterday:
We just need the county to hear that we’re serious about this, that we have a strong sense of urgency behind it.”-Ted Wheeler
That’s funny, coming from Mr. Wheeler. He certainly was in no hurry whatsoever in 2018 to have the police remove AntiFa protesters in the streets, blocking traffic and harassing people. This is the guy who let his city burn during riots, and refused assistance from The National Guard because: Orange Man Bad. He is responsible for businesses burning and closing down because of draconian COVID-19 lockdowns. He is responsible for rampant homelessness and for Portland turning into the rotting, liberal, cesspool, heap of garbage that it is today.
Yet again, you said you offered to aid Portland by sending in federal law enforcement to our city. On behalf of the City of Portland: No thanks.
We don’t need your politics of division and demagoguery. Portlanders are onto you. We have already seen your reckless disregard for human life in your bumbling response to the COVID pandemic. And we know you’ve reached the conclusion that images of violence or vandalism are your only ticket to reelection.”-Ted Wheeler-August 2020
What a difference four years makes! It’s amazeballs how Ted Wheeler’s willful ignorance of law and order and reckless disregard for Portland residents and visitors alike have transformed into this desire for law and order after Joe Biden got elected.
I guess he’s realized that “images of violence or vandalism” are NOT the ticket to a Democrat winning an election. Wheeler won’t seek a third term, which is good because he will probably go down in history as one of the worst city mayors of all-time, but his time in office does not bode well for Democrats in general seeking the office.
The time is ticking, though, and Wheeler needs to fix Portland quick. But, there are problems. The Escuela Vida preschool, which is two blocks away from the location, is suing to block the opening of the facility.
The process just needs to be out in the open, so we know what they’re deciding and why they’re deciding it. Everything has been behind closed doors and just delivered to us after the fact.”-David Watnick, Escuela Vida attorney.
There were also other issues with the center, and local businesses balked back at the lack of transparency. Ted Wheeler pushed in more on eventual goal is to expand the center into a 24/7 operation that will also serve as a sobering center. The current plan is to run the center during daytime hours on weekdays due to staffing limitations. This means anyone arrested at night or on the weekend will be cited or taken to jail-directly to jail-no passing “GO”, no $200 dollars-with no immediate option to choose treatment.
If they stick to the timeline, if they continue to add the sobering services, if it becomes a drop-off center, if it becomes 24/7, then I think my colleagues and I will be satisfied, but right now, it’s a leap of faith.
That’s clearly not the spirit of the state law that was passed by the legislature — they obviously want us to have a working deflection program. But if it’s not working, the only tool available to us as a municipal government is arresting and booking. I just want to be very clear with everybody about that today.”-Ted Wheeler
And the perps were processed, and released the same day.
— John Ford (@PDXFato) August 12, 2024
The only tool in this lawless city. Everything else is just catch-and-release.
Featured image via coffee on Pixabay, cropped and modified, Pixabay license
GWB says: All I can picture with the words “drug deflection center” is a bunch of druggies sitting around, trying to inject themselves or pop pills, and there’s an employee there whose job it is to slap the needle or pipe or hand away.
And the more I think on it, the more I think that might be a valid rehab method. Especially teamed with the Newhart Treatment (“Stop it!”).
GWB says: Ted Wheeler pushed in more on eventual goal is to
Ummm, Lisa, wut?
the only tool available to us as a municipal government is arresting and booking
Here’s the $64,000 question: will people be required to remain at this facility until they are actually clean and sober? Or just until they “clean up”? There is a difference. Will they be required to remain at all?
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