Thank you for sharing your story and what you believe (and know) will lead to successful recovery.
It’s too bad the 2 elected officials you mention refuse to listen. Perhaps have they have not shared with you “their primary goals for those with addiction and their plan for achieving them” because they have none.
“In my case, prison was what I needed to finally get serious.” Unfortunately, Megan Moyer and Mitch Green seem to know more about addiction recovery than recovered addicts. And so it goes in Portland…drug addicts crashed out in door ways, needles in the park and politicians too self-important to listen to someone who has been down the road of addiction and made it back.
Portland prides itself on being a compassionate and inclusive community. Dick‘s testimony and recommendations seem like the tough love needed at this moment in time. What more can be done to help move the city forward?
What a detailed and moving piece with lots of personal disclosure, thanks so much for sharing your wisdom. As someone with 40 plus years of recovery and transition to a successful career as a licensed psychotherapist working in addiction medicine, your insights and recommendations are spot on. My creation of purpose was found through attending college, being around others who had passion for a subject or field, much as the same passion I had for drugs and alcohol. Your idea of a 30 day civil commitment is an excellent idea, it gives time away from the environment of using and dysfunction, allowing the user to get some clarity of what normal is again, which can lead to the development of finding purpose. Yet development of this model will take a shift in perspective and work by the city/county, it is easier to do “harm reduction” and feel good about yourself even though you are perpetuating the problem.
Before you named the two legislators, I had an idea who they were. We need to up the pressure on these two. What are ways this amazing piece can be shared, such as to other social media, like Reddit? I am new to Substack/NW Examiner and don’t know the protocol or process of sharing an article like this.
Portland is starting to recognize the need for jail or civil commitment or both at times for severe mental health conditions. I think we could make it a much better system than currently and provide immediate intervention, limited confinement, and an opportunity for people to begin anew with a clearer mind. Psychiatrists would be interested in helping but they don't want to be hampered from doing something substantive and life affirming for people, rather than playing a part in a dysfunctional civil commitment system that seems at best ineffectual and at worse, destructive to the human spirit. The severely mentally ill on the streets have a lot of physical problems as well and would best be treated for a period in a general hospital unit where they could get attention and care from other specialists.
This is a wonderful, heartfelt essay. But allow me to observe that not all of the human wreckage on our streets and sidewalks is a banker waiting to get out. Some will find "purpose," (with a $-multi-million public investment) and some will define their purpose as taking drugs.
Anyone who has been around an addict (whether on the street or at the country club) will get a laundry-list of reasons that the doper simply HAD to self-destruct. They will all indict someone or something else. Humans rationalize.
Here's the dirty little secret: I really don't care why a doper is addicted; I care that their habit screws up sidewalks, neighborhoods, cities. Helping thousands of addicts find their "purpose" is financially impossible. The public purse isn't deep enough to endure the endless relapse-cycles involved in saving just one lost soul. It can't be done.
Society not only has a right--but a duty--to remove the feral from our midst. This used to be a general policy in the Bad Old Days--and there weren't no-go neighborhood shooting galleries. We have destroyed swaths of our cities with misinformed compassion--and the creation of both policies and entities that have supported the plague and profited from it.
Monetize a plague and you'll get more of it.
Any city interested in self-preservation must make using drugs so unpleasant that the addict will have to make a decision (which we have taken out of their hands): use and feel the full weight of government and its brute power to protect its civic life. Simple. Tough. Predictable.
Mr Cheverton, thanks for the quasi-compliment, but I believe you missed the point. I am a subscriber of yours, not because I always agree with your position, but because I enjoy satire and cynicism-the things you celebrate. It is fun to laugh when someone or something you dislike is being poked fun at, cleverly. It is rare, but sometimes those who are the brunt of your ridicule can laugh at themselves. Sometimes it is bad taste or ill advised, like making fun of someone's deeply held religious beliefs. In this case, it is just not helpful.
As you said earlier in the week when promoting my friend, Brian Owendoff's Substack posts, Portland is experiencing a Doom Loop and Brian should be listened to in his analysis of the Loop itself and the actions by elected officials that are exacerbating it. Brian is spot on on those things and you are correct to ask people to listen. Time to get serious again. It is the failure of Multnomah County and the State of Oregon enact policies to "end" unsheltered homelessness and untreated behavioral health; to make functional zero homelessness and full recovery for drug addiction and stable treatment for those with psychosis the goals for the state. If they had and required the coordination of resources to achieve that, our health care system whould be in better shape and Portland would be "in recovery" economically like every other major city in America. What I have been advocating for over the last 4 years is common sense to any Recovered addict you will talk to. You are right. Most aren't bankers. But that is not the joke. And finding pupose is not expensive. Its something people do on their own, when given the chance and a little support. A lot cheaper than wearhousing people in jail or prison and a whole lot more compassionate than making people with addiction and psychosis social untouchables.
What I have suggested is using the 250 dorm beds in the unstaffed Inverness Jail on a temporary basis (several years) as a detox facility. Those 250 beds, located in five separate dorms, would allow as many as 5,000 detoxes annually. I don't know how many detoxes have been done at various clinic across Multnomah County, but I would guess there have not been this many in the last 4 years. My proposal is to staff this with some sherrif personnel for safety, medical personnel for either medically supervised withdrawal (no Suboxone or Methadone) or medically assisted withdrawal (with substitute drugs). My suggestion was to use medically assisted for the first detox, but medically supervised if and when the patient relapses. Compassionate accountability. People would receive a maximum 30 day civil commitment from a drug court. During detox, while physically and psychologically withdrawing from their drug of choice, they will be assigned a peer counselor from among those already being funded as outreach workers, etc. They will be re-purposed from trying to convince people to voluntarily seek detox, but places like the Oasis or Behavioral Health Resource Center can fefer them. They can also come in via the police if arrested for open use or possession. They will get a clinical assessment. They will be asked to work with both to develop their own recovery plan. The peers will contact friends and family and let them know where their loved ones are. They will get coaching of living in apartments and basic social rules, much as Inside Out does. A maximum of thirty days and they will be discharged into sober housing, either at Home Forward facilities (which currently don't operate as sober housing, but could if they refer tenants who are found to be using to detox. Many, probably most by observation, will need to voluntarily stay in facilities like Bybee Lakes Hope Center, Central City Concern or Team Portland for six months to a year to gain enough agency to return to life on their own with a job and housing and purpose.
What do I think will happen if we implement such a strategy?
People with addiction who want to continue to use will think twice about moving to Portland and those who want to recover will stay. We may even attract addicts wanting treatment.
Many addicts will leave the area, as I did, returning to family or to a place where they can create a clen slate and start a new life without the expectations of others interfering.
The homelessness problem will be reduced significantly because addicts are in detox or some follow on treatment. People with psychosis can remain in housing after stabilization, so long as they remain on the stabilizing meds.
We will create a secure database where we can see what works and what does not over time, and adjust accordingly.
The need for detox beds will gradually diminish as people flow through the continuum of care a few times.
Safety and livability will gradually increase to, allowing police to focus in violent crime, community policing and serious property crime which is hampering Portland's economic recovery. Maybe the animosity between the community and the police will diminish to a point where the police officers can feel safe living in the City they serve.
This insn't OZ and this is not the yellow brick road, but it is a common sense result of focusing on solving problems rather than perpetuating them. There will still be a place for City Team, CCC and Bybee Lakes, but we will have ended the emergency and addiction and homeless outreach does not need to be a growth industry.
Oregon's health system might just have a chance to get into the black and increase coverage.
And you, Richard, can get back to poking fun at politicians.
Thank you for sharing your story and what you believe (and know) will lead to successful recovery.
It’s too bad the 2 elected officials you mention refuse to listen. Perhaps have they have not shared with you “their primary goals for those with addiction and their plan for achieving them” because they have none.
“In my case, prison was what I needed to finally get serious.” Unfortunately, Megan Moyer and Mitch Green seem to know more about addiction recovery than recovered addicts. And so it goes in Portland…drug addicts crashed out in door ways, needles in the park and politicians too self-important to listen to someone who has been down the road of addiction and made it back.
Portland prides itself on being a compassionate and inclusive community. Dick‘s testimony and recommendations seem like the tough love needed at this moment in time. What more can be done to help move the city forward?
1000%!!!
I too have witnessed addicts die from overdose in the company of loved ones, instead of jail time.
An addict will absolutely not voluntarily choose detox. And if they do-- it is a soft recovery with no consequence. Until the next time.
Forced jail time and detox IS accountability - to oneself (hello harm reduction advocates!), and accountability to the society the addict lives.
Please, please Portland / Multnomah County SNAP OUT OF IT!!!
What a detailed and moving piece with lots of personal disclosure, thanks so much for sharing your wisdom. As someone with 40 plus years of recovery and transition to a successful career as a licensed psychotherapist working in addiction medicine, your insights and recommendations are spot on. My creation of purpose was found through attending college, being around others who had passion for a subject or field, much as the same passion I had for drugs and alcohol. Your idea of a 30 day civil commitment is an excellent idea, it gives time away from the environment of using and dysfunction, allowing the user to get some clarity of what normal is again, which can lead to the development of finding purpose. Yet development of this model will take a shift in perspective and work by the city/county, it is easier to do “harm reduction” and feel good about yourself even though you are perpetuating the problem.
Before you named the two legislators, I had an idea who they were. We need to up the pressure on these two. What are ways this amazing piece can be shared, such as to other social media, like Reddit? I am new to Substack/NW Examiner and don’t know the protocol or process of sharing an article like this.
Portland is starting to recognize the need for jail or civil commitment or both at times for severe mental health conditions. I think we could make it a much better system than currently and provide immediate intervention, limited confinement, and an opportunity for people to begin anew with a clearer mind. Psychiatrists would be interested in helping but they don't want to be hampered from doing something substantive and life affirming for people, rather than playing a part in a dysfunctional civil commitment system that seems at best ineffectual and at worse, destructive to the human spirit. The severely mentally ill on the streets have a lot of physical problems as well and would best be treated for a period in a general hospital unit where they could get attention and care from other specialists.
This is a wonderful, heartfelt essay. But allow me to observe that not all of the human wreckage on our streets and sidewalks is a banker waiting to get out. Some will find "purpose," (with a $-multi-million public investment) and some will define their purpose as taking drugs.
Anyone who has been around an addict (whether on the street or at the country club) will get a laundry-list of reasons that the doper simply HAD to self-destruct. They will all indict someone or something else. Humans rationalize.
Here's the dirty little secret: I really don't care why a doper is addicted; I care that their habit screws up sidewalks, neighborhoods, cities. Helping thousands of addicts find their "purpose" is financially impossible. The public purse isn't deep enough to endure the endless relapse-cycles involved in saving just one lost soul. It can't be done.
Society not only has a right--but a duty--to remove the feral from our midst. This used to be a general policy in the Bad Old Days--and there weren't no-go neighborhood shooting galleries. We have destroyed swaths of our cities with misinformed compassion--and the creation of both policies and entities that have supported the plague and profited from it.
Monetize a plague and you'll get more of it.
Any city interested in self-preservation must make using drugs so unpleasant that the addict will have to make a decision (which we have taken out of their hands): use and feel the full weight of government and its brute power to protect its civic life. Simple. Tough. Predictable.
Anything else is pandering--and payoffs.
Mr Cheverton, thanks for the quasi-compliment, but I believe you missed the point. I am a subscriber of yours, not because I always agree with your position, but because I enjoy satire and cynicism-the things you celebrate. It is fun to laugh when someone or something you dislike is being poked fun at, cleverly. It is rare, but sometimes those who are the brunt of your ridicule can laugh at themselves. Sometimes it is bad taste or ill advised, like making fun of someone's deeply held religious beliefs. In this case, it is just not helpful.
As you said earlier in the week when promoting my friend, Brian Owendoff's Substack posts, Portland is experiencing a Doom Loop and Brian should be listened to in his analysis of the Loop itself and the actions by elected officials that are exacerbating it. Brian is spot on on those things and you are correct to ask people to listen. Time to get serious again. It is the failure of Multnomah County and the State of Oregon enact policies to "end" unsheltered homelessness and untreated behavioral health; to make functional zero homelessness and full recovery for drug addiction and stable treatment for those with psychosis the goals for the state. If they had and required the coordination of resources to achieve that, our health care system whould be in better shape and Portland would be "in recovery" economically like every other major city in America. What I have been advocating for over the last 4 years is common sense to any Recovered addict you will talk to. You are right. Most aren't bankers. But that is not the joke. And finding pupose is not expensive. Its something people do on their own, when given the chance and a little support. A lot cheaper than wearhousing people in jail or prison and a whole lot more compassionate than making people with addiction and psychosis social untouchables.
What I have suggested is using the 250 dorm beds in the unstaffed Inverness Jail on a temporary basis (several years) as a detox facility. Those 250 beds, located in five separate dorms, would allow as many as 5,000 detoxes annually. I don't know how many detoxes have been done at various clinic across Multnomah County, but I would guess there have not been this many in the last 4 years. My proposal is to staff this with some sherrif personnel for safety, medical personnel for either medically supervised withdrawal (no Suboxone or Methadone) or medically assisted withdrawal (with substitute drugs). My suggestion was to use medically assisted for the first detox, but medically supervised if and when the patient relapses. Compassionate accountability. People would receive a maximum 30 day civil commitment from a drug court. During detox, while physically and psychologically withdrawing from their drug of choice, they will be assigned a peer counselor from among those already being funded as outreach workers, etc. They will be re-purposed from trying to convince people to voluntarily seek detox, but places like the Oasis or Behavioral Health Resource Center can fefer them. They can also come in via the police if arrested for open use or possession. They will get a clinical assessment. They will be asked to work with both to develop their own recovery plan. The peers will contact friends and family and let them know where their loved ones are. They will get coaching of living in apartments and basic social rules, much as Inside Out does. A maximum of thirty days and they will be discharged into sober housing, either at Home Forward facilities (which currently don't operate as sober housing, but could if they refer tenants who are found to be using to detox. Many, probably most by observation, will need to voluntarily stay in facilities like Bybee Lakes Hope Center, Central City Concern or Team Portland for six months to a year to gain enough agency to return to life on their own with a job and housing and purpose.
What do I think will happen if we implement such a strategy?
People with addiction who want to continue to use will think twice about moving to Portland and those who want to recover will stay. We may even attract addicts wanting treatment.
Many addicts will leave the area, as I did, returning to family or to a place where they can create a clen slate and start a new life without the expectations of others interfering.
The homelessness problem will be reduced significantly because addicts are in detox or some follow on treatment. People with psychosis can remain in housing after stabilization, so long as they remain on the stabilizing meds.
We will create a secure database where we can see what works and what does not over time, and adjust accordingly.
The need for detox beds will gradually diminish as people flow through the continuum of care a few times.
Safety and livability will gradually increase to, allowing police to focus in violent crime, community policing and serious property crime which is hampering Portland's economic recovery. Maybe the animosity between the community and the police will diminish to a point where the police officers can feel safe living in the City they serve.
This insn't OZ and this is not the yellow brick road, but it is a common sense result of focusing on solving problems rather than perpetuating them. There will still be a place for City Team, CCC and Bybee Lakes, but we will have ended the emergency and addiction and homeless outreach does not need to be a growth industry.
Oregon's health system might just have a chance to get into the black and increase coverage.
And you, Richard, can get back to poking fun at politicians.