State legislators will spend much of the next month debating whether to scrap Measure 110, Oregon’s voter-approved effort at drug decriminalization. Their decision will directly impact the first responders who deal with drug addiction on the streets of Portland. But has decriminalization caused the spike in overdoses and public use, or has it simply made the crisis impossible to ignore?
OPB’s Conrad Wilson has been exploring the realities of Oregon’s drug crisis and has spent time watching police, paramedics and other first responders do their jobs. Their reality: The rise in fentanyl means they respond to overdoses every day.
Related: In downtown Portland’s fentanyl crisis, Oregon leaders declare emergency
A man who was just revived from a near-fatal overdose climbs into the back of an ambulance, Dec. 13, 2023, in downtown Portland.
Kristyna Wentz-Graff / OPB
