Rebel R.

Thank you Jason Kropf for the bill (HB 4002) addressing drug addiction. It will save lives. Yes there's more work to do. People in Oregon prisons and jails need better access to the three drugs proven effective in treating opioid addiction: methadone, buprenorphine, and extended-release naltrexone.

Oregon also needs to incentivize primary-care physicians and NPs to get the training they need to prescribe these drugs to patients with opioid use disorder.

A Wall Street Journal 2017 video report on why most addiction ‘treatment’ facilities don’t offer medical treatment for OUD:
https://www.wsj.com/video/series/moving-up…

Or you can watch it on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClCFwxKuIB…

Drag shows highlight exaggerated stereotypes of an oppressed group (women) for light entertainment.
Stereotyping for fun and profit.

About 75% of addicts eventually recover. But it usually takes years.
Multiple relapses, often five or more, are common.

It typically takes eight years or longer to achieve long-term remission even with high quality treatment and medical care.

People who have more financial resources and support recover faster than those who don't, as do people with milder forms of addiction.

SMART Recovery is a secular program that teaches coping skills and offers mutual support for people with alcohol and drug addiction. Meetings are led by trained peer-support facilitators.
Their website lists two in-person groups in Bend and several online meetings groups.

Women for Sobriety is another mutual-support program.
Both these programs are free, according to an article in Psychology Today.

Our local houseless-services coalition, which conducts the annual point-in-time count, may be under-reporting mental illness and addiction. Their numbers are just too low.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority conducts the annual point-in-time count for the LA area. This service provider interpreted the results and determined that 29% of people living on the streets reported, or were observed to have, a mental illness and/or substance abuse disorder.

The LA Times, examining the same data, found 67%.

You can read the 2019 LA Times article here:
https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2…

Houseless people deserve our compassion but we must be realistic about the challenges that many of them face.

Dear Editor,
NIMBY is derogatory. NIMBY is a slur that dehumanizes people.
Words matter.

"Whether you think graffiti is a subversive, democratic art form or a public nuisance, it harks back to our cave-painting days"

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2…

Re Concerning new library
I agree that the Source editor is wrong on the library issue. The 2020 ballot did not identify location or size of a central library.

Listen to an OPB interview of the Source editor Nicole Vulcan:
https://www.opb.org/article/2023/04/26/why…