Portland issues state of emergency over rampant fentanyl issues

A state of emergency was declared Tuesday over downtown Portland’s rampant fentanyl problems — just three years after Oregon became the first state to decriminalize drug use.

Gov. Tina Kotek, along with Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, each issued an ordinance to establish an emergency command center for drug overdose response and prevention for at least 90 days.

“Our country and our state have never seen a drug this deadly and addictive, and all are grappling with how to respond,” Governor Kotek said.

“The Chair, the Mayor and I recognize the need to act with urgency and unity across our public health and community safety systems to make a dent in this crisis. We are all in this together.”

The three simultaneous emergency declarations were issued to pool and “refocus existing resources” across the city, county and state jurisdictions, Kotek’s office said.

The center will serve as an immediate care access site, where those addicted to synthetic opioids will be connected with resources from a bed in a drug treatment center to meeting with a behavioral health clinician to help with registering for food stamps.

Health department officials will also collect data on the impacts of fentanyl in Portland’s downtown area to strategically address gaps in the government’s approach to quelling the city’s growing drug problem.

The effort also extends the Portland Police Bureau’s partnership with Oregon State Police to crack down on those pushing the deadly drugs, while health representatives will conduct outreach with civilians, including distributing and training on the use of Narcan.

“Today, we move forward with urgency to address these challenges together under the authority of emergency declarations. This is exactly the type of coordinated action needed to make a direct impact and a lasting difference,” Mayor Wheeler said.

The declaration is a recommendation from a governor-established task force that met for several months last year to determine ways to rejuvenate downtown Portland.

The major announcement also comes just six months after data was released showing that overdose deaths from synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, jumped 533% between 2018 and 2022 in Multnomah County, where Portland is located.

The largest city in the state has fallen under severe backlash over its 2020 first-in-the-nation law decriminalizing small-time drug use after the fentanyl crisis exploded in recent months.

The law had emphasized addiction treatment over criminal punishment but has instead seen the synthetic opioid proliferate on Portland streets.

Health officials previously distributed tin foil, straws and snorting kits to drug users as part of its “Harm Reduction Program.”

Oregon is grappling with the largest increase in synthetic overdose deaths in the country and the third highest of all overdose deaths, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Oregon Democrats proposed to roll back part of the decriminalization law, which would undo a key part of the original bill but would send those caught with hard drugs into addiction counseling rather than prison.