Parents of Portland's homeless call for mandatory drug treatment 

Of course they can.

36 mos 72 mos Time helps

Yes, they CAN. It’s called “JAIL.”

@@lostinthedesert-hp4bw Right.... but.... as soon as an addict is released, they seek out their drugs/alcohol. My brother was imprisoned in AZ for 7 years for B&E. He told his family "as soon as I got out of jail, I walked to the nearest bar & got drunk, slept in the alley behind the bar & returned to that bar the next a.m. but was refused entrance, so he walked to the next bar up the street." He was arrested for public intox the 2nd night & spent 24 hours in jail. He has done that for 40 years. Works long enough to get a few $$$. Drinks it up. Sleeps it off, many times in jail. He is currently in "rehab" dying from lung cancer.

If they can't get clean with a mandatory drug rehab law, they can transition from the rehab facility to a jail. Get these GD people OFF the streets of our society.

That's not true. It may take two or three times. It may only. Take once. But it will work.

@@ThemanisredI just passed 10 years sober. First time in rehab was for other people. Last time was for myself.

This is so heartbreakingly true.

@@MarvinThiessen I'm with what I learned in high school, don't do drugs. That way. We don't need all these things that cause taxpayers money. I'm sorry.

I don’t believe they spent all that money on the homeless

@@All-due-respect-I-disagree I solidly concur.

So if you were put in charge what would you do?

Every word you’ve said is TRUTH! It’s a sad fact, but yeah, it is a fact. My 39-year-old dear son died beginning with an asthma attack and overdose on Christmas morning 11 AM 2023. My son hollered out to us for help. He had his nebulizer turned on, but he had dropped his albuterol because for whatever reason he was shaking like a leaf.. Daughter put the nebulizer medication in the cup and held it for him and said do we need to call 911? My son said, “yeah. Maybe”. He was talking and then he wasn’t. My daughter was right with him while I was grabbing the Narcan and she saw his spirit leave his body. The entire thing was devastating & traumatic! All that happened on Christmas, which was Monday. Friday morning the neurologist told us my son had zero brain activity. We inquired about organ donation. That team got onboard.. December 31 in the middle of the night 2:30 AM the operating team came to get my boy. We all walked him down through his honor walk. We, me, my daughter and two nieces, and my son‘s best friend went into the OR with him. THEY PULLED HIS BREATHING TOO…. it took less than 10 minutes for him to stop breathing. We all kissed him told him how much we loved him and how brave he was to give his organs to people so they could live and then we had to scoot out so that they could begin harvesting his organs for others. The organ donation team told us that they are getting more donors because of the opioid crisis! It’s wonderful if someone wants to go into Treatment, but as you know, we cannot make someone stop using drugs. Heck, Drugs are even in our prisosn. It’s a choice. People have choices. Free will. We need to stop incarcerating people because of their drug use as well, in my opinion.

Yes. These poor parents need to connect with alanon.

True for the majority of addicts, but some find success. For some it works out, though.

You are so right……it’s the addicts oxygen!

@@Berryville_2000 I've been addicted before. Five years of pure hell.

Yeah, I think about this. With so many people in the grip of addiction on Portland streets, and for such a long span of time, your family members are not so unusual. We have a lot of older homeless too, when dementia compounds addiction, it makes self care even less likely to be consistent. The state will need to create more long term communities to house those who can't live independently. The safe rest villages are just the beginning. It will take a lot of programming, and resources. Detox, medical attention, and intensive case management will all be needed. Over the long haul, providing a clear pathway, that brings thousands of current addicts into housing, into treatment, and back into being part of an emotionally healthy community, is very much in everyone's interest. Leaving an underclass to slowly become sicker, and die on our streets, is not a reasonable option.

I can't imagine the depth of the frustration you must feel. Thank you for sharing this. I'm thinking about what you said. I'm very sorry that your family has suffered so much.

Nothing wrong with long term harm reduction therapy as well, it’s way safer and gives you the time to do it on your own schedule. Short term detox NEVER worked for my brain. That’s why I thought treatment wasn’t for me. I tried three times between 2005-2015. It wasn’t until I got in to a long term program that my life really changed. It was the cognitive therapy along with the medicine that did it. But it took me a year at least in the program for me to even start talking in groups. But two groups a week for three years helped so much. So much.

That’s what jail is for 👍🏻😃!!

​@@lostinthedesert-hp4bw Idiotic statement

@@lostinthedesert-hp4bw Lead by example You first

🤪🤡

That's why it would be MANDATORY.

Did he move somewhere else because he couldn’t afford housing? That’s an economic problem

You are spot on! People are constantly tossing out opinions without actually looking at the MASS of data we actually have! The vast majority of PDX homeless are not unemployed from our community. Well over 80% are not from Portland or Oregon at all but moved here within the last two years. They were already homeless when they moved here to access the convienience of the wealth of services we offer (the ones they actually use are quite selective) and lower cost drugs.

I absolutely agree, I also think any amount of time these people spend sober will give them a better chance of living to a point where they are ready. It also lets them know that sobriety is possible.

@@lianegiago5443 sobriety is actually a terrifying thought for many addicts. . . The stigma of relapsing is paralyzing. . . Straight to the point “it’s a fear of success AND a fear of failure” all rolled into one ball. . . If addiction was easy to beat, then it wouldn’t be addiction. . . Go back and start at the very beginning of it and start with addressing the trauma that will eventually lead to that addiction later in life. . . Untreated trauma is one of the top reasons addicts turn to whatever they find gives them a temporary numbness and I am including gambling, sex and other addictions in what I am saying 😁

Yes It will. The judge gave me a choice. Go to prison or go to rehab. I chose rehab, and i'm still clean. You don't know what you're talking about. You have to get people out of that That addicted state of mind first.

@@Themanisred I know this because I am in recovery, my daughter is addicted to fentanyl and been forced into treatment SEVERAL times as a juvenile AND adult AND work with addicts. . . It’s a know thing that until they are ready, you can put them in treatment all you want and it won’t stick. . . It may stay for a while but it’s RARE that unless the person is ready, they won’t stay clean for very long. . . You are a rare gem and staying clean for any amount of time is a blessing. . .

@@ThisIsMyLife7399 The key is to convince people that sobriety is better than the alternative.Which is prison or death

Sometimes they permanently OD before that decision is made.

But they need a lot of help and support, and they aren’t getting it

How do addicts quit in prison? Less access? They dry out and get clean? Alcoholics too - no alcohol in prison. Or am I naive and drugs and alcohol get in constantly?

@@aboutface102then they need to make it easier and more affordable for addicts to get help.

When we stop making addiction so easy, people get clean. I've been down hard before. I'm not special, and I've pulled myself up from the streets before.

Post face

Insidious is right, the damage it causes and potency gradually increasing over the years with these newer cathinones and opioids. Very scary times and my heart goes out to all of those in need of help

🎯

You're right, her poor baby was born addicted and may suffer permanent damage, a terrible life

💯

Replace drugs with god and other drugs

Because they don’t want the help! We have so, so many empty beds for the homeless here in PDX because people don’t want them! That’s where the money goes, creating “solutions” that people don’t use.

Crime is by definition already illegal

Wow, you're a dick huh?

And know who they are hanging out with, at least while they are minors

That sounds like an excellent way to make an addict decide against getting clean.

@@Argestez How about Narcan only being administered once after an OD, and if being rescued from death once is not enough to "get clean," then so be it, first responders can then be available for people suffering traumas and other health care issues.

@@NMV-ej4zd that’s both impractical and cruel. What would that even accomplish other than kill more people suffering from addiction?