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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2022)
6 Wednesday, January 26, 2022 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon SHERIFF: Concern that easing sanctions increases use Continued from page 1 scheduled before the orga- nization People9s Rights Oregon 5 (PR OR5), which meets regularly at Aspen Lakes. The organization, which proclaims that it is <Uniting Neighbors to Defend Their Families, Faith, Freedom and Future,= has been negatively depicted as right-wing and <extremist= in some local media (see related story, page 7). The January 18 presenta- tion had been characterized as a <closed-door meeting,= because PR OR5 said that it was not allowing media to attend the function. After a query by The Nugget, Sheriff Nelson invited The Nugget to attend and cover the presentation, to which PR OR5 organizers agreed. Nelson told the assem- blage that he is supportive of some of the thinking behind the ballot measure, regarding ensuring that resources are made available to get users and addicts <back on track.= <If you do not give people resources,= he said, <our jail becomes a revolving door.= However, Nelson asserted, removing enforcement and the threat of incarceration from the equation handi- caps the effectiveness of intervention. <In order for something to work, enforcement has to be part of it,= he said. Nelson said that the way Measure 110 leaves the law, a user could rack up essentially unlimited numbers of cita- tions with no consequences. And sometimes consequences get users into the <system= where they can get court- ordered help. Nelson emphasized that manufacture or sale of drugs is still treated as a crime. <If you manufacture or sell, that9s a different story,= he said. <You9re still in the criminal justice system.= But <personal use= has wide parameters. The audience was clearly taken aback by the amounts of drugs considered to be for per- sonal use under Measure 110: " Less than 1 gram of heroin " Less than 1 gram, or less than 5 pills, of MDMA " Less than 2 grams of methamphetamine " Less than 40 units of LSD " Less than 12 grams of psilocybin " Less than 40 units of methadone " Less than 40 pills of oxycodone " Less than 2 grams of cocaine. The sheriff said that an early <snapshot= indicates that a large proportion of cited violators fail to appear and very few have received a health assessment under the law. Nelson emphasized that he is not opposed to a behav- ioral health approach to drug and/or mental health issues, which are becoming increas- ingly prevalent in Central Oregon. He said that <a (law enforcement) uniform is not always the answer= in responding to mental health crises. DAVIS TIRE Ou r family can take care of your family of autos & trailers Brakes • Axles • Ball Joints • Suspension • Shocks • Struts He noted that the commu- nity and the Sheriff9s Office <made a significant invest- ment in the Stabilization Center= next to the Sheriff9s Station in Bend. The Center serves those in need of short- term mental health crisis assessment and stabilization. It also helps people in mental health crisis who have been referred to law enforcement or diverted from a hospital emergency room. <I9m prepared to increase that investment, because not everybody (with problems) belongs in the criminal justice system,= he said. The Sheriff also noted that DCSO is partnering with Ideal Option, an outpatient medication-assisted treatment for addiction in Operation Guardian Angel, where users and addicts can bring in their drugs and paraphernalia with- out sanction and be put in touch with treatment options. The program comes at no cost to DCSO. <I look forward to see- ing what kind of success Operation Guardian Angel will bring,= he said. Sheriff Nelson entertained an extensive question-and- answer period, asking that questions be confined to the subject of the presentation. With a handful of exceptions, they were. One questioner asked what good solutions there might be to drug use/abuse and associ- ated social problems. He spe- cifically asked about a return to family values. Nelson noted that many people who run into trou- ble with drugs have grown up in <negative environ- ments,= with very little sup- port in their family and social environment. <They need wraparound services,= he said. <You have to have mentoring, life-skills programs. Frankly, I will tell you, you get the best inter- vention with the youth.= That said, however, Nelson recalled a man he knows who didn9t turn his life around until he was in his 40s, when he started tak- ing advantage of the services on offer to break the cycle of addiction and incarceration. <You never know when it9s going to click,= he said. <You have to keep offering it.= Other questions regarded whether people are moving to Oregon to take advantage of a more permissive environ- ment around drug use, and whether Measure 110 con- tributes to human trafficking and homelessness. Sheriff Nelson said it9s too early to have reliable data on those questions, although he said there is anecdotal evi- dence that people have moved to Oregon for legal marijuana use and/or jobs. Regarding human trafficking, he said <there is definitely exposure here,= and <I don9t think it9s that big of a leap= to associate it with drugs. He noted that there are several nonprofits working in Central Oregon to combat human trafficking. <It9s very real,= he said. Regarding homelessness, he said that a combination of resources and enforcement is necessary to cope with an increasingly prevalent issue. <There9s rules that every- body has to follow; that has to be an element as you offer resources,= he said. To considerable agree- ment in the audience, he said that issues of homelessness 188 W. Sisters Park Dr. Check Out THIS WEEK’S NUGGET INSERT! RAY’S FOOD PLACE 73% Lean Ground Beef $2.89 per lb. Boneless Pork Loin Chops $3.49 per lb . Half-Gallon Eberhard’s Chocolate Milk $2.79 12-pk. Pepsi Beverages Buy 2 get 1 FREE Medium Hass Avocados 99¢ each TELLING THE STORIES OF THE SISTERS COMMUNITY Through boom and bust, good times and hard times, for more than four decades. TIRE INSTALLATION, ALIGNMENT, REPAIR, BALANCING, ROTATION Sisters S Sis ter s Indu I Industrial n str ndu s r ial i al l Pa ia P Park a rk r k and often-associated men- tal health issues should be approached with compassion. <I9m not trying to speak coldly about this issue,= he said. <Right now we9re just trying to mitigate a problem, because it won9t be solved.= Nelson said that, <(Methamphetamine) contin- ues to be our biggest prob- lem,= and that <we have more work than we can get to as far as illegal marijuana grows.= Sheriff Nelson told The Nugget that he is willing to offer a presentation on Measure 110 to other orga- nizations in the county, and a video of the January 18 pre- sentation will be posted on the DCSO Facebook page this week. 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