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Wednesday, February 16, 2022 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
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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
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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
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The Nugget Newspaper, LLC
Website: www.nuggetnews.com
442 E. Main Ave., P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759
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The Nugget Newspaper,
P.O. Box 698, Sisters, OR 97759.
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Editor in Chief: Jim Cornelius
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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.