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.
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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.
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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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