周三，俄勒冈州的议员们在一个四小时的会议上听取了州行为健康官员和当地成瘾治疗提供者的意见，他们证实，毒品泛滥是俄勒冈州面临的最棘手的问题之一，涉及到该州的每一个角落.
Addiction treatment 和 the behavioral health system is complex. Bureaucratic barriers st和 in the way of getting treatment to people when they need it. It’s hard to hire qualified providers, especially in remote rural areas, 和 programs need more money to hire 和 retain staff 和 build needed facilities. Many people have an easier time scoring fentanyl than they do finding treatment.
What lawmakers need now, said 森. 凯特利, 他是参议院多数党领袖，也是新成立的成瘾和社区安全应对联合临时委员会的联合主席, is a clear direction on what they can do to get people into treatment.
“I’m putting a stake in the ground here for everyone who is listening. We need to get people off the streets now,” 利 said. “We have run out of time to build the exact system we want. What can we do now to rapidly get people off the street in a safe way?”
该委员会周三首次召开会议，正值对该州2020年选民批准的毒品非刑事化法律的批评日益增多之际, 测量110. 芬太尼过量使用的流行，以及公众对药物使用的普遍不满，导致立法机构的共和党人呼吁废除该法律, while a coalition including Nike co-founder Phil Knight is pushing 2024 ballot measures 将持有某些毒品重新定罪，强制治疗并禁止在公共场所使用毒品.
周三向委员会发言的行为健康提供者普遍支持第110号措施.
“测量110 is the best thing that’s happened to providing treatment in Oregon,蒂姆·墨菲说。, chief executive officer of Salem-based Bridgeway Recovery Services.
第二次听证会将于11月11日举行. 6 will focus on law enforcement 和 the police response to addiction, 在2月份立法机关召开会议之前，还有两次会议将帮助委员会成员起草政策变化的具体建议.
利, D-Beaverton, 是一名前摩特诺玛县检察官，决定留在立法机构而不是竞选司法部长，专注于成瘾和行为健康问题. 她在会后告诉《pg电子游戏哪个平台好》，她觉得立法机关在行为健康问题上玩打地鼠游戏. As soon as lawmakers make progress on one aspect of the crisis, something else pops up.
委员会联席主席. 杰森Kropf, D-Bend 和 a former Deschutes County public defender 和 prosecutor, 他说，在这次会议上，他更多地了解了危机在不同社区的表现. Drug abuse 和 behavioral health are problems throughout the state, but they look different in urban 和 rural areas. 他说，立法者可以帮助当地社区在寻找解决方案方面更具创新性.
Need for sobering centers
在哈尼县, 哪个跨度大于10,000平方英里, Burns-based Symmetry Care treats people in mental health 和 addiction crises. 主管克里斯·西格纳(Chris Siegner)说，有时，服务提供商好几天都没有接到求助电话.
他敦促立法者认识到，更多的资金并不总是意味着医疗服务提供者可以带来更多的员工, especially in rural areas where it’s harder to recruit workers. 他让他们思考，当人们没有能力为自己选择治疗时，如何让他们接受治疗.
“I don’t think anybody wants to criminalize drug use, 但他们也不希望那些无法照顾自己的人死在别人面前,他说.
库斯县行为健康主任大卫·吉尔斯说，他所在的地区需要一个专门的安全场所，那些吸毒过量或面临精神健康危机的人可以去那里处理眼前的需求，然后与他的团队和其他提供者一起进行长期治疗.
他说:“要做到这一点，某种警醒中心或危机稳定中心至关重要。. “We do not have that in 咕咕地叫 County. We don’t have it in Curry County.”
他说，一个中心需要在当地，并且容易到达——警察不会开一个小时的车把人送到一个稳定中心.
森. 大卫·布洛克·史密斯, R-Port奥福特, represents 咕咕地叫 和 Curry counties along with other areas of southwest Oregon. 他不是委员会的成员，但他和委员会成员一起坐在讲台上提问. In a texted statement through a spokeswoman, 布洛克·史密斯说，他在那里是因为成瘾对他的选民来说是一个重要的问题.
“All three of my county boards of commissioners (Curry, 咕咕地叫, 道格拉斯)已经通过决议，敦促州长和/或立法机关废除第110号措施,布洛克·史密斯说. “My constituents are dying, 我的社区感到沮丧，我的公共安全专业人员没有保护居民所需的工具.”
利伯在会后说，布洛克·史密斯不会对委员会的任何事情投票，因为他不是委员会成员, but senators are allowed to join 和 ask questions.
“强大得多”
The drug crisis in Oregon 和 across the country is driven by fentanyl, 一个便宜的, highly addictive 和 often lethal drug. More than 930 Oregonians died from opioid overdoses in 2022 compared to 280 in 2019, according to Oregon Health 作者ity data.
里克Treleaven, executive director of Bestcare Treatment, which provides addiction treatment in central Oregon, said he’s had more clients die in the last year than the last 25 years put together. He compared the fentanyl epidemic to the early AIDS epidemic, 当公共卫生官员努力让人们远离危险行为，死亡猖獗时.
“Our clients are coming in 和 they say ‘I’m scared of this drug,但他们停不下来,特里利文说. “In 40 years, I’ve never seen this.”
Some patients have reported recovering from multiple overdoses with naloxone, 过量服用逆转药物, but each overdose puts stress on brains, 类似于脑震荡, 和 contributes to brain damage. Treleaven said he doesn’t expect to see long-term fentanyl addicts, 因为芬太尼, 与海洛因, isn’t a drug people can use long-term 和 expect to survive.
乔Bazeghi, director of engagement at Recovery Works NW, 他说，医生们在2018年左右开始发出警告，他们用来帮助人们戒除海洛因和羟考酮的方法对芬太尼不起作用. The organization has provided medication-assisted treatment in Yamhill, Clackamas, 在华盛顿和摩特诺玛县工作了10年，最近在波特兰东南部开设了一个有16个床位的戒毒中心.
Fentanyl can be stored in fat cells, while other opioids are more easily excreted. Bazeghi说，这意味着那些看起来稳定、摆脱戒断的人可能会重新陷入戒断状态.
“This stuff is far, far more powerful,他说. “People come in with far, far more significant challenges.”
金伯利苏, 他是耶鲁大学医学院的医学助理教授，也是国家减少伤害联盟的前医学主任, shared data from her work in New York State, where fentanyl has been the leading cause of overdose deaths since 2016.
她说，在似乎有治疗方法的地区，过量死亡人数反而更高. People who are homeless or incarcerated have the highest rates of overdose deaths.
“我们在让人们获得我们知道有效的治疗方面做得很糟糕，”她说.
有效的治疗包括认识到大多数人使用不止一种物质, 和 may need treatment for alcohol or stimulants along with opioids, 她说. 提供者需要找到在传统诊所之外为人们提供成瘾服务的方法, 和 drug users need access to medications like methadone 和 buprenorphine, 她说.
“只要获得芬太尼比获得阿片类药物使用障碍的治疗更容易, we will continue to see a rise in overdose deaths,苏说.
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