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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 16, 2022)
2 Wednesday, February 16, 2022 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon O P I N I O Letters to the Editor… The Nugget welcomes contributions from its readers, which must include the writer9s name, address, and phone number. Letters to the Editor is an open forum for the community and contains unsolicited opinions not necessarily shared by the Editor. The Nugget reserves the right to edit, omit, respond, or ask for a response to letters submitted to the Editor. Letters should be no longer than 300 words. Unpublished items are not acknowledged or returned. The deadline for all letters is 10 a.m. Monday. N Decriminalization is a social disaster By Jim Cornelius Editor in Chief Love thy neighbor To The Editor: Please read the book <This Fight Is Our Fight,= by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren. <And it is our fight, all of us!= She tells us the truth! This country only works for those with <big money= to make it work for them!? I have been told by two political offices 4 a state senator, and a state representative 4 that prices are so high in Oregon because Oregon has become a <distorted supply and demand state.= And we are supposed to trust those we elect and what they do and say! I would just like to remind folks that God has never played favorites; he loves all his children equally. He works for the good of all not just the favored few! Oregon, please hear God9s words. And I want to thank hugely all of the courageous special people who have given so much of themselves and have worked the front lines so hard for all of us, and for Sisters herself, during this nasty pandemic. I pray God to keep them all safe, and lift this virus that burdens us so. We need to listen to God9s voice (Matt 5:43-46). We need to try to make a difference (all of us), in our own community, thereby leading the way for all communities. It has to start somewhere! Let Sisters lead the way 4 amen? Stand together as brothers and sisters in Christ! Care about one another: <Love thy neighbor as thyself.= It9s called <Unity,= <United We Stand, Divided We Fall,= <A Nation Without God, Will Die.= And thank you, Naomi Rowe, Lance Trowbridge, Kiwanis, Shepherd9s House, Bethlehem Inn, the Cold Weather Shelter, Sparrow Club, Furry Friends, and all the oth- ers who help so much. God loves all his chil- dren <equally.= AMEN... And thank you, too, Diane Goble! May others who care come forward and help make <affordable housing more affordable.= (See: Bulletin editorial, <Stop making afford- able housing less affordable city of Bend.= December 3, 2020). In His holy name, C. Johnson s s s Secret Socialists... To the Editor: I just want to take a moment to thank Kris Calvin for his letter to the editor from last week9s Nugget. Kris, I can9t begin to tell you just what your letter meant to me, because I, too, am a secret Sisters Socialist and for weeks and weeks in The Nugget the Democrats have been vilified for just about everything imaginable. It9s all about <patriots versus leftists,= we9re told. So, it was nice to find out that there is a secretive Sisters Socialist Society and you have ping-pong and cookies, too! Count me in! Hey, I bet you guys could tell me how to get a crack pipe from the Biden administra- tion. I hear they9re giving them out for free! Terry Weygandt s s s See LETTERS on page 16 Sisters Weather Forecast Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday February 16• Partly Cloudy February 17 • Partly Cloudy February 18 • Party Cloudy February 19 • Party Cloudy 49/29 58/32 57/32 55/33 Sunday Monday Tuesday February 20 • Party Cloudy February 21 Party Cloudy February 22 Party Cloudy 45/30 48/30 51/29 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC Website: www.nuggetnews.com 442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759 Tel: 541-549-9941 | Email: editor@nuggetnews.com Postmaster: Send address changes to The Nugget Newspaper, P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759. Third Class Postage Paid at Sisters, Oregon. Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius Production Manager: Leith Easterling Creative Director: Jess Draper Community Marketing Partner: Vicki Curlett Classifieds & Circulation: Beth Jacobsen Proofreader: Kit Tosello Owner: J. Louis Mullen The Nugget is mailed to residents within the Sisters School District; subscriptions are available outside delivery area. Third-class postage: one year, $70; six months (or less), $45. First-class postage: one year, $110; six months, $80. Published Weekly. ©2022 The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is pro- hibited. All advertising which appears in The Nugget is the property of The Nugget and may not be used without explicit permission. The Nugget Newspaper, LLC. assumes no liability or responsibility for information contained in advertisements, articles, stories, lists, calendar etc. within this publication. All submissions to The Nugget Newspaper will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyrighting purposes and subject to The Nugget Newspaper9s unrestricted right to edit and comment editorially, that all rights are currently available, and that the material in no way infringes upon the rights of any person. The publisher assumes no responsibility for return or safety of artwork, photos, or manuscripts. Sometimes you know you9ve made a terrible mis- take as soon as you take that first wrong turn. Oregon took a sharp turn down the wrong road in passing Measure 110 4 the Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative approved by vot- ers in 2020. Measure 110 makes personal possession of a controlled substance a violation subject only to a maximum fine of $100, and established a drug addic- tion treatment and recov- ery program funded in part by the state9s marijuana tax revenue and state prison savings. Sheriff Shane Nelson decried the unintended con- sequences of the measure at a presentation to People9s Rights Oregon 5 last month, and the evidence that his assessment is correct keeps piling up. Emphasizing treat- ment over incarceration is the right way to go 4but relying on drug users and addicts to decide that they want treatment is never going to work. Measure 110 relies on citations rather than arrest for <personal use= quantities of drugs 4 amounts that are not insub- stantial. Evidence so far shows pretty conclusively that very few of those cited are getting a drug assess- ment and virtually nobody is getting treatment. Just as opponents of the measure argued during the election, we are expect- ing people who are using extremely destructive, and, in the case of meth- amphetamine, profoundly mind-bending drugs to act as rational actors who can see what9s best for them and seek it out. It9s magical thinking. It9s bad for soci- ety, but it9s also a disaster for the people it9s supposed to help. Journalist and author Sam Quinones has it right: <It may be in fact extraordi- narily damaging to people, not an act of benevolence, but an act of torment to actually keep someone on the street,= he said in an OPB interview. <Taking someone off the street using jail somehow to detox peo- ple4people are doing this across the country now4 might be a more benevo- lent, more kind way of deal- ing with someone. Certainly just saying, well, you9re on the street and we9ve got you with these implements that are kind of misdemean- ors or low-level felonies or maybe you have some sto- len property or whatever, but we9re going to leave you here and we9re going to wait till you9re ready for treatment; the idea that people need to be ready for treatment is an idea that9s made completely obsolete by this meth.= A law promulgated with the best of intentions has gone awry. It’s hurting everyone and helping no one. A close friend of mine has a relative who is, at age 45, in the likely ter- minal throes of a lifelong addiction to hard drugs. He9s been living off-and- on on the streets of a large city where a similar drug decriminalization policy is in effect. Currently, he abides in a 150-square- foot tiny home in a village, established by an agency for homeless residents. He has been using multiple drugs: Xanax, cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl, and currently has two charges outstand- ing with law enforcement. He suffers from multiple, severe health issues that have periodically required hospitalization. He considers decriminal- ization a disaster. He says that the streets have become an open-air drug market and shooting gallery. And, he says, with enforcement for drug offenses drop- ping off, law enforcement is not responding to crimes involving addicts. A law promulgated with the best of intentions has gone awry. It9s hurt- ing everyone and helping no one. As Sheriff Nelson stated in his presentation, <In order for something to work, enforcement has to be part of it.= Treatment MUST be available 4 and we must be willing to step up to provide resources for it. But treatment has to be manda- tory and supervised, and the consequence of incar- ceration has to be in the equation. We can9t afford to wait. Oregon must act to unwind Measure 110, and take a better road.