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The scourge of fentanyl freedom [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2023-11-14  

So, it’s a bit interesting that so few diaries specific to fentanyl have been published this year- really only one that even touches on fentanyl being a problem. I moved back to Portland OR about a year ago, and fentanyl is a major, major problem here. For those of you who are fortunate enough to live in cities that still function, fentanyl may seem like a back burner issue.

Specifically, I would highly advise NOT legalizing fentanyl or meth in the name of ending the drug war. I was all in favor of legalizing marijuana because the harm is so low, and I do believe in personal freedom. Many voters followed that same desire for harm reduction when passing Measure 110. For those not familiar with Portland’s unique path, here’s the scoop: in November of 2020, Oregon Measure 110 effectively decriminalized fentanyl and methamphetamine. We didn’t just remove penalties. Recently the city was handing out fentanyl kits: a square of tinfoil and a straw to make smoking fentanyl easier. ??!?!?!!? I get why clean needles are important. But kits of tinfoil and straws is insanity.

A primary goal of Measure 110 was to reduce the uneven impact of the drug war on people of color. A worthy goal to be sure. But, no action occurs in a vacuum. The results have been immediate and seriously bad.

There are a multitude of reasons why fentanyl is a major issue. First, the human suffering by those who are users. I see this every day. People who are folded over on the street, half-clothed, and incoherent. That is the primary harm, and it is really really bad. I now recognize the “fenty fold”, which is not a good thing.

The list of secondary negative impacts is broad.

Crime:

Fentanyl is a highly addictive drug. Users frequently turn to crime to support their addiction. The innocent victims of crime (theft, assault, burglary) are the first set of people who are impacted beyond users and their immediate family. I just had my car stolen, like 30 other people in Portland every single day. The shop owner I know here has had her front glass windows smashed in FIVE times now in two years. She lost a lot of her fall merchandise and is expecting to close for good since insurance no longer covers her ongoing losses, either to product or building damage.

Worse than theft would be murder. Portland set an all time murder record in 2021. Then broke that record in 2022.

Economic:

Every store that closes due to theft is a loss to the public. Sometimes that is a local small business like my friend. Their entire livelihood is lost due to ongoing crime. Other times is is a larger chain: Target, Walmart, Nike and REI all recently closed their stores here. It is partly theft related, and partly low sales. But how much of the low sales are due to people avoiding the area due to crime?

Safety:

First responders here spend a huge amount of their time dealing with overdoses and crimes associated with fentanyl use. Besides the expense of sending firefighters and medics out with Narcan over and over, those emergency resources are no longer available to the rest of the public.

Health:

Is it safe to ride on your bus? I don’t mean will it crash- I mean will you (or your child) wind up with second hand fentanyl exposure. Traces of fentanyl and meth linger on Portland public transit

What they found: Of 78 air samples taken from across the five agencies, researchers detected small levels of methamphetamine in all of them. They also found methamphetamine in 100 of 102 surface samples they collected.

Fentanyl was detected in a quarter of the air samples and nearly half of the samples taken from surfaces.

Environment

Now that our public transit system is contaminated with fentanyl and meth, and the bike paths are blocked by tents, transit ridership is down by 40%. Again a part of that is Covid related. But only part. When public transit is such a health hazard that we go back to commuting in our cars, we are giving up on reducing emissions. Would you inhale fentanyl to help meet the Paris accords?

Data manipulation

I’m a data person, so I usually try to find some data to back up my points. I saw a recent claim that legalizing fentanyl has not been a problem because fatal overdoses have not risen, with a link to this study: Study says drug decriminalization in Oregon did not cause more overdose deaths. One problem- that is ONLY fatal overdoses. There has been a huge push to get Narcan into the hands of first responders and the public- teachers, bartenders, etc. Non-fatal overdoses are not being tracked, so we don’t have any idea how many actual overdoses are occurring. It could be ten times the number of fatal overdoses, and could show the exact opposite of what OPB is trying to show.

Outlier effect

This section is mostly deduction, lacking proof. Why do I think Portland suffering so badly? Largely because the rest of the country has not moved to legalize fentanyl/meth. Our local laws are out of synch. The point being, you can’t just go your own way in a large country while expecting it not to matter if everyone else is doing the opposite. You may be right morally, but practically it won’t work to be the only major city in the country where you can smoke fentanyl on any street corner, while a cop watches and does nothing.

Much of the fentanyl problem in Portland is related to users and dealers who are not from this city. They moved or stayed here because of decriminalization and lax enforcement. I have seen several studies focused on the homeless population that conclude most are locals. BUT- those studies are flawed. For starters, the focus is on homeless people, not fentanyl-related criminals. These two populations are NOT the same. They may overlap but it is important not to assume a homeless person is a user. Second, these studies are from years ago, before the current explosion in homelessness. Data from 2019 has zero applicability today. Finally, studies ask about county or state of prior residence instead of “city”. So a person who lived in a rural red area moves to the streets of Portland, and is counted as a Portlander. The media just sees one more Portlander corrupted by liberal values. Even if that person is from, say, Florida, and is screaming racist and sexist obscenities, Portland takes the reputation hit. I’ve looked, but have yet to find a current study that actually tries to determine what percent of the fentanyl/crime problem is caused by people who moved to this city. Seat of the pants calculations based on incomplete/projected/anecdotal data leads me to believe it is well over 50%. Maybe ¾. (prove me wrong!)

Political.

The Democratic party may suffer significant electoral defeats directly due to fentanyl/meth. When you can point at the poster child for liberalism, and see a disaster, you should prepare to lose politically. Seattle just swung from a far left to a moderate city council in last week’s election. Citizens who do not feel safe in public WILL vote for whatever party promises to make them safe. Maslow’s Hierarchy places safety as the second most important need after food/water/air.

The problem is that this swing will not be limited to these few cities. Seattle/Portland/San Francisco are examples of liberal leadership. If those examples are obvious disasters and unsafe, the national media and Republicans will have a big shining example of who not to elect. The impact of this fentanyl tolerance could be enough to tip a national election.

We should be prepared for a strong anti-drug push from the public. I expect liberals to defend fentanyl freedom based on a variety of social justice causes. The public will rate all those causes lower on their priority list than safety, and we will lose that argument.

Silence

In my day to day life, fentanyl is one of the major negative impacts. And yet I never read anything about this scourge here on DailyKos. Are we not aware? Or do we not want the attention pointed at an Achilles heel of social freedom?

Last, I want to point out that those who suffer the greatest impact outside family are those at the bottom of our classist society- the working class and elderly. People who could barely purchase a car on credit, who find their windows smashed in for nothing. Single parents and their children. Elderly folks who suffer purse snatching, and are injured when they are shoved to the concrete. Upper class liberals are free to promote fentanyl freedom because they live in wealthy, safe neighborhoods and don’t use public transit. Who lives in the less wealthy neighborhoods that suffer the crime wave? The working class who have very little voice. People of color, who suffer again for laws they did not support. In fact, they suffer from a law that was supposed to help them! In short, all the people we claim to be champions for. Are we actually helping them with fentanyl freedom? From my perspective, no.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/11/14/2205856/-The-scourge-of-fentanyl-freedom?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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