Multnomah County's Plan for HB 4002 Shows JVP's Lunacy Yet Again

When HB 4002 passed, it seemed that Portland breathed a collective sign of relief. The majority of the citizenry of the city – and the rest of the state’s smaller cities – believed that the individuals who were regularly seen openly using deadly drugs on the streets would finally have to accept at least some of the responsibility for their poor decisions and actions that Measure 110 aided and abetted. Rational responses to our state’s out of control homelessness, drug use and overdoses would finally occur, and the state could finally begin to heal from the nightmare of the last seven years.

Unfortunately, as far as Portland is concerned…it still remains Portland: the center of the world for ridiculous and damaging policy. HB 4002 allows local jurisdictions to decide how to deal with the new law that increases legal penalties for unlawful possession of controlled substances; however, it gave very little guidance for what penalties could be applied for these violations and allows these jurisdictions to set up their own deflection programs, which are supposed to give the violators of the possession law an opportunity to avoid jail time if they meet certain stipulations.

Leave it up to Multnomah County to choose the worst possible “solution.” Wait for it, because it’s a doozy – courtesy of County Chair Jessica Vega-Pederson and her brilliant advisors:

According to the Oregonian, the plan states that when a person is caught in possession of illegal drugs, they wouldn’t have to undergo a substance abuse screening or commit to treatment. Instead, they could simply check in at a drop-off center where they could get rid of the drugs in their possession, in lieu of arrest. And, as a matter of fact, they could simply ask the arresting officer to give them a ride to the drop-off center, which the officer would be required to do. No other requirements would be necessary. In other words: you get caught, just give the county your stash.

In other words, they could choose to have no consequences at all, which is exactly what happened under Measure 110.

This scenario simply bogles the imagination with all the ludicrous possibilities. This plan would make the PPB a de facto taxi service for junkies and drug dealers. Why would a cop arrest someone for possession when they would also be required to provide transportation for those arrested to these centers? Perhaps, since they are acting like a city-funded rideshare program, they could stop and get some Taco Bell on the way, paid for by tax payers. I mean, why the Hell not?

Now, let’s also consider what these drop-off centers are going to look like. It’s not inconceivable that they could end up like large scale drug bazaar’s because who is going to manage the drugs coming into the center? I’m sure one of our lovely Measure 110-loving non-profits will get the contract, the ones who employ “recovery peers” (see the infamous Behavioral Health Resource Center), and undoubtedly will receive funds to the tune of 10’s of millions per year. Are they going to be interested in enforcing the drug drop offs? Why not just drop the drugs off to another dealer so they can be returned back onto the street within minutes? You may think I’m joking, but anyone who has been paying attention to how similar programs in this city and county have been run should believe that this is not only possible, but highly likely.

I saw today that someone dropped a recall petition on JVP today. There is little doubt that she is completely incompetent, and more than likely stupid. I’ve heard her talk in person. This is a person who is more on the side of Dunning Kruger than having measured competency. Just to let you know, JVP won’t be recalled. Oregon makes it very difficult to recall anyone, as previous recall efforts against former Gov. Brown and Mayor Ted Wheeler have shown. It’s more than difficult, it is actually probably near to impossible. There is little doubt that JVP deserves to be recalled, but it won’t happen. I think she highly suspects that this will be her one and only term as the Multnomah County Chair and go the way of Hardesty, Eudaly, and Schmidt. She has already fled her former district for the hills of Council Crest. She doesn’t care what’s going to happen in the neighborhoods this will damage. She’s half way out the door.

The entire essence of HB 4002 was to have a law on the books that makes individuals who openly abuse drugs on our streets, along with all of the collateral damage that society has to endure due that abuse, would have some repercussions for their actions. This plan, if one can even call it that, does the exact opposite of that, and is just a return to the same problems that Measure 110 created. This is a way for JVP and her acolytes to ignore the wishes of the voters of the county in order to keep the status quo.

This isn’t just simply incompetency, though there are barrels full of that. This is openly defying and mocking the citizens of Multnomah County.