Drug and Sex Scandal Shut Down Oregon Behavioral Health Resource Center.

 A drug and sex scandal shut down Behavioral Health Resource Center.

It would be funny were it not so incredibly pathetic. A county-run drug counseling center for homeless drug addicts in Portland had to be shut down and some of its employees were dumped because of drug use and “inappropriate relations” between employees. In other words, a drug and sex scandal shut down the Multnomah County Behavioral Health Resource Center.

Willamette Week reports that at first, Multnomah County lied about why the center was temporarily closed, saying “the county insisted at the time the closure was prompted by the need for more staff training to deal with clients in mental distress and for building improvements.”  “Staff training”? It turns out that contractors with the Behavioral Health Resource Center needed training in how not to do drugs and have sex on the job.  Later the county explained that a March 29 complaint had alleged contracted employees working at the center had used illicit drugs—what the county referred to as “powder”—on the premises. The complaint also alleged staffers from three contracted organizations had engaged in “inappropriate relationships” with one another.  Those contractors were DPI Security, Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon, and janitorial company Northwest Success.  And at least one so-called security guard smoked weed on the job but said he toked up out of the view of the homeless drug addicts.

Measure 110, legalizing the personal use of hard drugs, was passed with 58% of the vote during the pandemic.  Measure 110 was sold as a way for law enforcement to leave law-abiding drug takers alone. But things didn’t work out that way. The law has resulted in more drugged-out zombies lying on Portland’s streets.  The M-110 sales pitch was that few would be arrested by cops for public intoxication  etc and other things like pooping on the sidewalk. Those who were busted were given only a ticket if they promised to seek help — at a place like the Behavioral Health Resource Center.

Drug and alcohol counselor Ken Dahlgren spends his time on the streets with addicts, which describes most homeless people. He said if money solved this problem then Oregon would have solved it long ago. Instead, “The fact is, over the last seven years since the Joint Office of Homeless Services was established, our crisis has gone through the roof. So, as more money is poured into solving this problem, the problem continues to grow, which means money isn’t the solution.”  Under the old scheme, possession charges were a tool to get people into treatment, because punishments could be dropped if offenders agreed to seek help. However, the thinking in Oregon was that treatment was likelier to work better when it was voluntary. The citations for possession that have replaced charges come with a fine of up to $100, which can be waived with a call to a health hotline. The hope was that offenders could then be steered into rehab. But less than 5% of police actions have actually resulted in that phone call.