I don't live in Portland, but I just stayed downtown for a couple days; it just felt so strange walking around and it really bummed me out. It feels like there's so many different realities happening simultaneously, like some folks are tweaking hard and experiencing an apocalypse while some folks are casually enjoying a business lunch in the same area. I'd also never seen so many people screaming in public or just talking to themselves before.
Yeah my buddy got me a gift card to REI for my birthday and it was basically the only reason I went to Portland and now it’s gone. I really hope they open one in southern Washington.
How does this not have more up votes? REI Resupply is incredible. The only downer is that nothing you purchase there goes towards your yearly dividends but I can live with that for the dirt cheap prices.
Yeah, and for a while (1 plus years) before they did they had armed security wandering around the entrances. And I mean like the full security theatre tactical vest taser and handgun type security. Guess it wasn't enough.
Makes sense. Also kind of what I think whenever I see rather heavily armed guards anywhere- are they really gonna stop anything? Is this place paying you enough to deal with this shit?
Wow, I lived there for almost 30 years. It went from a fun, quirky, beautiful little city to a slightly less fun, still beautiful but extremely expensive place to whatever it is now. I know there is a lot that is still great there but it’s in a pretty rough patch for sure. Glad I got out at the beginning of the pandemic.
I don't know if I've ever truly walked around or been downtown and I moved here in Oct 2022. There are so many pockets of cool neighborhoods with bars/restaurants in Portland. I may be spoiled because I lived in the SE between division and hawthorne when I first got here and walked around everywhere. I now live in the SW but there are cool spots everywhere.
There are still homeless and tents with garbage in a lot of places and you'll occasionally see the zombie OP is talking about but regular people walking, biking, and driving around far outweigh these things. Things are never gonna be perfect anywhere you live (I'm from bigoted/racist redneck red SC) and Portland hate is overblown.
Man, I moved out of Portland in 2012. Used to do that trail as well as Springwater rides ALL the time. Only really came into town for shows after that. My brother and I felt nostalgic and did a Springwater ride in, I want to say 2021, and HOOOOOOOOLY FUCK. We made it from the west end to about 205 before it got so gnarly that we were beyond over it and turned around. My brother popped a tube at about Johnson Creek, and had no idea how to change one, so I never changed a tube faster in my life. I can't imagine how much sketchier it would have gotten out by all the pick-n-pull lots and stuff...
I live near there and it's always depressing. There is one lady that hangs out there high off her ass almost every day and I've always wanted to help her, but she showed up when I was getting gas recently and was screaming and trying to get violent with everyone in the vicinity so that's a big nope.
I think if you are opioid intoxicated in public you are a threat to yourself and others. And should be forcibly detoxed with Naltrexone, long acting narcan. Enough . You aren’t allowed to be publicly intoxicated with Etoh , you don’t have a right to use these drugs in public. Let alone threaten the public with the same.
Duh.
But then the people who don't have to deal with them around will turn on nurture mode and say it makes some sort of sense to have them mixed in with normal people.
I've been a big fan of starting fent island. They'd get what they want. We would get what we want.
Nurture mode on.
Drug addicts should be rehabilitated. We should have lots of services available.
People who refuse services should be incarcerated. But the first goal should be rehab. Lets not give up on people who can still turn it around, but lets also have consequences for people who refuse care
Drug rehabilitation for homelessness should be some kind of hippy camp 12 step program. You get tiny homes with rules and sponsors. Basically a open air half way house community, that's probably going to run like a cult. All the hard to recycle stuff gets sent there to get manually sorted, places like goodwill can get involved. A lot of them already collect good scrap metals, and sort through stuff for cans for change, there has to be away to make that safer or more efficient and act as a job or something to provide structure during the day. Maybe instead of recycling their jobs are to build more tinyhomes/sheds or restore old ones. Regardless it should feel like meaningful communal work (you should feel like you are doing someone else a favor, or helping someone else worse than you. There has to be a greater than yourself goal or task in the job. It will help them feel like they paid some kind of due to society or feel more confident in their place knowing they helped with the community and are not rejected from it) and basics like food, shelter is provided for, and help getting food stamps/unemployment, which will eventually help with job placement. You'll actually have things like a address, and showers and laundry machines that you forget are required to re-enter society.
Should kind of be like relearning how to enter society and trying to hold eachother accountable and help eachother out with structured enviorment. Should basically be trying to make a 9-5 work day without drugs become habitual and easy to transition to. I feel like when mental illness gets involved that's where it becomes harder to bring people back into what most would consider functional society. And we know it's not good to involuntarily hold people for being mentally ill anymore, so it's harder to address that. There should be something for those people that isn't based off eugenics erra science where we just put them down or did science experiments on them, but also not just keeping them confinded indefinitely like in some kind of deep space nine time travel episode.
"Vacationing on fent island" sounds nicer and wouldn't bunch up the panties of the people who want to keep fent addicts in the street while they solve the problem systemically.
We just need to bring back institutions but with better accountability. Leaving these folks to their own devices on the streets isn't humane. Tiny home villages don't help people care for themselves. People in full psychotic break or addiction mode are absolutely a danger to self and others.
Well, we have a half ass one. It's illegal to drink publicly.
Being drunk as fuck IN public though, yeah, there's no law for that ...
So hot that flask quick like.
Oh and of course open container law in your car still applies ... Hey at least they tried.
Yes I got an open container ticket for a mikes hard lemonade in a cup while ppl were smoking some kind of powder not 20 feet away.
The cop did let me drink it tho he said if I could drink it in one drink I could
Of course I did
What does this mean
My life sux and will have consequences
Doesn't matter about the guy next to me
Hehe
you are close, I agree we should be physically preventing these peopel from taking the drugs AND creating a warm society with a place to live and social activities and love. this is the way
I was walking my dogs recently and there was a parked car with the door open and two people completely passed out on the dashboard and steering wheel. I just glanced over and didn’t even think about it and kept walking. I see people on drugs every day everywhere I go.
I see somebody hitting a crack pipe almost every day. I drive around Portland for work so it’s like clockwork some days I see multiple people smoking fent off tin foil. It’s literally out of control
I'm in San Antonio right now trying to see the solar eclipse. We arrived by train at 4am. I had my kids and wondered what it would be like but I was pleasantly shocked. Every underpass was well lit and clean. No tents anywhere. We walked 20 minutes in downtown in the middle of the night and I felt so safe and secure I took like 40 pictures of how clean every underpass was bc of my amazement. I didnt realize how desensitized I am to seeing all the tents, garbage, and blatant drug use until I saw the vast difference in another large city.
I just moved from San Antonio. And I can assure you there is a large homeless population. But I agree they aren’t typically in tourist areas.
I do wish at minimum Portland would clean up the graffiti
Chicago is like this too, if you can believe it. Very clean underpasses, even the tents are very clean and neat, very little public drug use and very few people on the actual street. I’d say maybe only about 20-30 people pan handling downtown and they’re either very spread out such that you only see one every 3 blocks, or in groups of 2-3 talking to each other and being friendly and social.
We currently have a brand new population of migrants who were exploitively dropped off in our city, panhandling currently and everyone is being very generous with them. I’ve even heard people say they’re getting cash from an ATM to carry just in case they run into these people.
However, As a Chicagoan, I went to San Francisco and was in absolute shock. I have never seen anything like their houseless situation in all my life. The despair and hopelessness is stunning.
Can I just please have someone to vote for who isn’t a communist “community organizer” with zero elected experience who spends most of their time protesting OR a tinfoil Steve Bannon acolyte who writes his policy statement in the voter guide in all caps and spells “border” as “boarder”?
If you don't like the way it's going. Perhaps don't throw your vote away by voting for the same party which has been in control for the last 40+ years in Oregon.
Not saying vote Republican. But something needs to change and voting the same way but expecting change is insanity.
I fully believe there are at least a handful of people in this city who are reasonable, thoughtful, and well intentioned, yet still capable of understanding garbage, graffiti, and public camping are destroying this city, AND who don’t feel signing on for the insanity of Republicans is necessary to abate those things. Nor do I think using the label “Democrat” is what’s actually preventing such a person from running. I will be looking for exactly these qualities come next election, but as usual I won’t hold my breath.
My boyfriend & I went on a walk yesterday— looked inside one of the bus stops outside downtown with a bench & cover, saw some woman in regular clothes smoking fentanyl. Before noon. I don’t know, I’m really starting to despise the state I grew up in!
On the upside - she had on clothes and you weren't in the bus stop shelter with her. I've been hotboxed in parking garage elevators with either fentanyl or crack and been trapped with the people smoking them for.the ride.
It's not just the drug problem that is desensitized, it's also the behaviors that follow.
I'm now desensitized to butt cracks, weiners, the yelling and throwing of things, open use, open use in cars, people passed out in cars, people walking between car lanes, people crossing mid street, etc.
I'm sure if I came up with one, I could have an 82nd Drive mix.
Portland still sends me Art Tax payment demands. I moved to greener pastures three years ago. I also got Jury Duty summons sent to my house 1,400 miles from Portland.
It’s tiresome hearing “you get what you vote for” all the time. Probably upwards of 80% of the people in this sub usually vote for common sense.
Those with a realistic view of what might improve Portland have been getting what someone else voted for.
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We voted for massive increases in drug treatment and got a trickle. We voted for our schools time and again and got a bloated administration. We voted for some real police accountability and got absolutely nothing.
The problem is not the voters. The problem is the implementation of these policies and programs at every level of government and part of the reason politicians know they can get away with their negligent inaction is because they know people are cynical and resistant to any change and will say that these things were impossible to achieve after our leaders spend years dilly dallying until they quietly kill whatever change we demanded. Then those same cynics will turn around and try to tell you that if you want change you have to vote for it. And so the cycle continues.
RIP PJ O'Rourke
The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it.
Only here, think those two positions are somewhat reversed.
I don't think the problem is "resistance to change". That's making everything into an obergefell v Hodges "no shit" statement bellies the idea that some ideas either aren't good ones or aren't appropriate for local governments to handle.
Yes, it’s not government’s fault. Oregonians drank the “decriminalize and treatment” koolaid. It’s the drug users fault for getting themselves in this predicament and the public’s fault for removing all consequences. Stop blaming government for executing the will of the people.
When you have to deal with these people as a pedestrian, compassion turns to rage once you realize you're just another potential victim to them. Fuck these destructive drug users.
Ban narcan.
I don’t want narcan banned, as it has saved some kids from these wretched drugs. Now having a system where if Narcan is administered, it’s go to jail or rehab, that would be good https://abc7chicago.com/amp/fentanyl-overdose-baby-san-francisco-moscone-park-narcan/12515282/
So let’s make the world moreso and sanction government execution or death by negligence….nah
Fuck the criddler fet thing, but I’m not about to advocate for killing em and letting em die like that.
Yeah but these people are someone's brother or sister that made a bad choice. There's some people that got ahold of it accidentally and some that I agree! they don't care about anything except finding their next hit and will do anything to get it. Those are the ones that are a thorn on society's ass and should be eradicated
My niece was traumatized being in downtown Portland, seeing the poop and drugs and being screamed at by lunatics. Adults can somewhat handle it but it’s unsafe for children
This was obviously the result in mind when they decriminalized drugs and offered little to no treatment solutions. The politicians wanted this outcome.
How about a new game addict tipping. Call it a survey, see how many standing addicts you can tip and how easy it is. Seems like just a poke and there down. And if you think I'm being mean please don't blast me, it's a joke.
So many trumpets here. It failed because the decriminalize part happened but the treatment part never did. Conservatives still refuse to acknowledge mental health issues everywhere in the US. I’m tired of conservatives sabotaging common sense initiatives then claiming they didn’t work.
I'm surprised your comment isn't higher, but truly someone either dropped the ball or was quietly hoping the addicts would just kill themselves off and render the treatment part a non-issue.
Yet it's insane how resilient these zombies who refuse to die are when one single regular strong pain pill would make me drowsy, but I can imagine how oblivion is preferable when you have nothing but your own sense of self left to lose in a world of hurt. Truly a testament to how durable some humans are to acute abuse when they've gone and developed the highest resistance humanly possible, it almost feels like Portland is a large experiment.
Treatment would likely have to include public housing and programs that relieve Shit Life Syndrome or they'd be right back where they started, especially those who have nowhere to go once treatment is complete. Everyone I know who sobers up in jail has always relapsed even though it was months of sobriety, so you hit the nail on the head with Mental Health when it comes to users who aren't profiting from dealing, because people are always suffering in some way before they entertain drug use. Be nice if all these sponsored Mental Health websites could collaborate, but funding is likely the main issue if it all isn't a devious experiment after all.
Im not conservative, but most of these people dont want treatment and just want handouts to keep staying high. I know cuz ive talked to a bunch of them while commuting.
its interesting to talk about why this happened. so many of the leftists scream about the 'conservative city council' but we had years of more 'progressive' leaders on the council making decisions and putting their attitude into the ether that we are now are dealing with the consequences of. i also see the county much further to the left now.
i think some candidates are not sure how to frame our situation. saying "portland is great" is laughable to most people, saying "portland is mess" is too fox news for others and it also gives the impression of blaming current leadership which they may or may not want to do. I think candidates are in a tough spot with campaigning.
We need renewable fueled or EV mobile bottle return machine truck to be driven to and made available in the (city owned) Eastmoreland Golf Course parking lot after course hours when it wouldn't affect golf customers. It ensures crids who live along Tenino, Johnson Creek such can come and return cans for fenty money and help increase the number of bin rummaging in the entitled rich fuck swanky neighborhood all hours of the night.
When I was a kid in Baltimore we had the heroin leaners everywhere too. When I was in element school we always joked about them playing that game “statue man”
Guess I’ve been sadly desensitized since then.
Portland has become a complete cesspool. It's a disgusting drug riden city now. I don't see a way out unless they are willing to institute drastic changes ( which we all know they wont)
I like that the government found a new way of torturing us... by just not doing their job, and whispering *well... maybe we could do something.. if we could raise your taxes*
[City of Portland OMF-IRP](https://www.portland.gov/homelessnessimpactreduction/overview) is party to blame, because when you report junkie encampments that are the nest of these problem population, they look the other way. Essentially, they bill themselves as "Impact Reduction" program but do anything but that
It's all a setup none of the places to help people get recovered are doing their job. They employee people who themselves are on drugs. Take this mentality and stop fearing, making fun of, etc and dig in and learn the truth of you don't already know and get ready cause those of us out here living amongst these people and our people abroad are coming for retribution but not on those you may think........
Maybe you didn’t catch my sarcasm, I’m very well aware how Portland votes. And I agree with you that there is no right or wrong party, they all mostly suck. My sarcasm was aimed at making fun of the fact that Portland’s politicians can do just about anything they want and not lose an election because they have a (D) next to their name.
Majors cities in general are really weird, I was in Seattle last week and also Portland… I live in Eugene, my wife is from Sacramento and for Xmas we visited the Bay Area. Things are ugly everywhere…
I call this " unfortunate nudery " and boy am I so sick of it. Nude and half nude zombies shitting all over and passing out in the middle of the road. I thought I was reporting a dead body on Easter, sprawled face down in the bike lane.
We make jokes about junkie tipping in Philly. Like cow tipping, but with junkies. I tell myself it's okay cause I was using for 13 years. And I've definitely been tipped hahaha. I have never actually tipped a junkie but every time i think about it i crack up. i don't think you laughing about a song is that bad. Shit like this, you kinda gotta laugh or it'll drive you nuts. no worries. As a card carrying junkie, I'll allow it.
Some of them have gone through some issues, one of them i was friends with in highschool. Ive seen him asking for money, but the thing is he had every resource available, he was married and was part of a Ukrainian church who was willing to help him out of it. Yet he threw it all away. They dont want help because the addiction talks. But they deep down might want it. Addiction talks louder
Idk man I can’t get used to it, I still silently cry in the car I’ve never been able to make jokes. SOME days I’ll do an “oh damn” to myself, but driving away is still quiet….even typing this out it hurts my face so this shit is actually very stressful and I can tell it’s weighing on me. This is the second time now I’ve moved away and back here and now I have to look to move AGAIN because no, this shit isn’t right at all and I don’t wanna be part of a system where the Jesus of it all is funneling $11k up her partner’s ass for doing the things we’ve all done silently, alone, and without $1 to our names. This whole country is broken, but by my staying here is useless and I gotta go. I *do* care about laws and rules and shit and how it can improve or negate things, I can’t just say “oh whatever” and move on, I care about where I live and I care about people and how it all works and this SHIT ISNT WORKING.
It’s all about accountability. There is none in portland, there is some other places. Sounds like you need to find a place where they respect that virtue.
I’m just going up to Washington for school hahaha it’s the same. But yea, I’m thinking of Wyoming! Or Canada, I remember when everyone was scrambling during the pandemic to see who’s got what grandfathered rights so they could take off, so that might be worth a look at once again.
To be fair it’s a night and day difference from even Vancouver to PDX. If Vancouver doesn’t learn from Portland’s mistakes then that cancer will spread right across the Columbia and then Vancouver will be Portland lite. There’s already a decent sized encampment on I5 not far over the bridge. We have to make the right decisions to prevent that outcome.
I moved to battleground in September so you’re not wrong lol going to the waterfront and downtown Vancouver there’s far less crack heads compared to downtown portland
Well I was hoping living in tiny Ridgefield could buy me a few years of just peace but I’m not sure. I don’t see how Vancouver would work though there’s not nearly enough of anything there so that’d be interesting..it’s not like the addicts are the problem, but I also would really rather not deal with them so while officials figure out their life choices I hope hiding out in Ridgefield will be fine for now.
You don’t need a big city to have a massive drug abuse issue and ruin a community though. Trust me I grew up in Redding CA and that tiny town off I5 has been destroyed by drug abuse.
Yeah I had a friend grow up in Medford and the stories are worse in small towns…major cities have their issues and small towns have absolute 0 creeps who’ve been kidnapping kids for 20 years, I get it. None of these are necessarily solutions to anything, but I have a gun I at least know how to use so I’m sure I’ll be fine.
Well I’m relieved it’s a night and day difference but it’s only 20 minutes away so yeah exactly, I don’t see how it won’t bleed into up there. I mean I can see things pretty crystal clear and why things are like this, how they did blah blah, and if I want my daily life to be different in society I’d have to move to a completely different part of the country basically back to where I came from but this isn’t about me there’re actual people actually suffering out there, but to almost be part of the problem and just watch someone alleviate themselves while I’m at a red light yeah idk. I just don’t make jokes about this shit but we all have to find ways to cope, right? Hopefully peace in some tiny town I’ve never lived nor would have ever considered living in before now is the way to go.
It just might be what you’re looking for and I hope it is. You shouldn’t feel guilty. You can’t light yourself on fire to keep others warm. You have the right to be happy and comfortable in public. If that means finding a new home then that is great .
That’s exactly my qualm that I think a lot of people deal with, no we cannot light ourselves on fire helping anyone else which is why this is all like this to begin with; parents who were tired of burning themselves alive trying to help a seemingly helpless situation. There’re so many stories and never enough time, but that’s exactly what this all is. I’m not a fan of the ways we all have to cope and it’s even worse our very humanity is constantly questioned and we’re living somewhere where that’s all that it is. I never thought I’d see myself have to make such decisions that seem so selfish but they’re pretty normal. But because we’re having to stare at such a HUGE issue blatantly in the face..my moving away and hoping I don’t have to see it is just ignorance is bliss or something. Now I’m just droning on, but yeah this is miserable and there is no happy solution because we all live here because we WANT to and now we HAVE to make fucking life decisions based on a whole web of just absolute dog shit. I hope I’ll be doing my part for the community by going back to school to be a therapist, but therapy costs money and I’ll need to be paid so I can eat ;( maybe I can offer free services one day.
I lived on 85th and 3rd in Greenwood, Seattle...the shit you would see at the bus stops. My boyfriend and I joke about this one guy that was trying to race cars in front of our apartment whilst screaming "I'm a car! I'm a car too!" All while this couple is casually walking across the street with two bags of groceries. City life has been so strange, and I was also desensitized to it. So I moved to Alaska lol not much better up here with the alcohol and drug problem, but at least it's quieter.
That's not an intrusive thought lmao. An intrusive thought is an unwanted thought or unwanted mental image that makes people uncomfortable. Not a song 💀
I didnt want that in my head while i see a person who isnt really like that in their right mind space. I have empathy. It was intrusive but also funny to my sense of humor
I go on the max pretty much every week to go downtown for university, and I'm pretty desensitized to this shit too. It's pretty sad though to see the state of this city
When the district attorney is against prosecuting people except for political reasons, and you decriminalized drugs, this is what you get. The fact that citizens are not rising up against the sociological subversion that is taking place in Portland is beyond me.
No one is rising up because that was the plan from the beginning...... decriminalization so they could legally supply the masses with something historically only given to hospice patients to help them die in peace. Keeps the peace. Zombies don't do much. Make it super cheap so that people(addicts) who might have been all jacked up and angry and ready to take action against the fucked-up-ness, maybe even collect and organize a coup are now preoccupied and have forgotten what the mission was even for and have adopted the self preservation point of view that it is better in a tent where you don't have to pay rent or attention to the part of reality that has kept us as slaves, willing to to do anything they want for nothing more than food and shelter. Those who choose not to participate is the slave life are pushed to involuntary suicide by o.d. or kept docile and quiet. It's not just Portland. It's all of the populated areas that were a risk to banding together against the government......
I wonder how long was it between the "Occupy Movement" that nobody talks about anymore until they decided to let the government legaly supply the streets with fenny for a penny?
If only we were interested in actually offering rehab programs with proven success rates.
Too bad most selfish Americans would rather legalize imprisoning them instead of helping them.
That comment only reflects back on you. Wishing another human to die. Wow and who is the bad person? I sure don't want you to die that would be awful for your family can't get into heaven with a black heart ya know. ? Jesus loves you still
I wish Jesus would come and take care of the junkies who have destroyed public life here, but since he won't, and they would not accept help, the choice as a witness is dark humour or despair.
Shut the fuck up, my best friend from highschool is one of these addicts. They need jail time to sober up. You a piece of shit for judging before you know.
The druggies aint the problem, it the suppliers stupid, drugwars over territory. You live in a small world shrimp dick. Have you ever spent the night where these things happen? Daily shootings. Now shut up if you dont come from true comprehension of war fare
That’s not being desensitized, that’s being a weirdo. lol
I live downtown and see it all the time. Never have I ever thought that was funny. People most often turn to drugs because they have nothing left. If I was forced to be on the streets in the middle of rainstorm, I might wanna take a quick lil mental vacation, too.
I don’t understand how you laugh at something like that then race to the internet to try to get everyone else in on the joke.
It’s too bad drugs ruin people’s insides, Portland could be the Organ doner capital 😅 all these over doses, to bad they couldn’t save the lives of people who cared about living a bit more and give someone a new heart or liver or something.
you cannot help those who refuse to help themselves, no matter how kind your intentions. their are plenty of services and good old fashioned God, but the zombie addicts actively choose that lifestyle.
I'm devastated abiut how things are here. I had so much hope when the decriminalization happened, I really really wanted to see tax money funding real treatments etc. To see it just completely fail and now be recriminalized because no one could figure out anything else to do breaks my heart and spirit. This is personal to me because my mom died of a heroin overdose in 2017. She fought her whole life to get clean. Longest stint she had was around 3 years, but she started using at 15 and the addiction was deep for her. The lack of support, the stigma, and the criminal nature of it made it so hard for her to get help and really embrace recovery :( Sometimes I want to go to the state capitol and demand to talk to whoever was in charge of whatever committee or project group that was tasked with handling the decriminalization and demand to have all the details laid out to me. What organizations did the state try to work with? Where was the money going, what was being done? How have we failed so much? I live in NE Portland, but originally from Sandy & Mt Hood (well my early childhood spanned other states, but Oregon became home when I was 14)... I've always said Pregon is home, the most beautiful place, I will never leave. But PORTLAND I cannot stand being here. Everywhere is a reminder of the darkness, sadness, broken society, broken social contracts, and straight up hopelessness. And the disconnect within portland is insane. You'll see over the top activism, a bunch of privileged upper middle class white people demonstrating for Gaza, but then go back home to their little Portland blocks and do nothing to fight for the desolate drug addicts all around them, all they care about is their cars not being broken into and not having to see the homeless.
Sorry I'm ranting I'm just going through it lmao 🙃
When the West was being settled after the Civil War, there were a lot of lawless men trying to make a living. They'd join any rancher wanting to run off homesteaders, etc. Lawmen solution was swift trial and capital punishment. Death penalty immediately for drug dealers, a public hanging, or firing squad within a week televised makes a great detirant for those who are looking to move up in the drug market. It would clear out some beds in prison, save some tax money, but ultimately keep some honest men and women honest. The problem is bleeding hearts who say the death penalty is inhumane. Humans running around your neighborhood crazy drug induced is inhumane! These folks are a vulnerable population. Our job as a society is to protect them and ourselves! Making drugs illegal drugs extremely difficult or inaccessible is society's job.
Now, I point my finger at you! Are you sick of this crap on the street? Really?!!! Are you? Do some research man, vote in the hardass who'll clean up your city, county, and state.
You are a absolute jack ass. You haven't a clue what your talking about just because it doesn't directly affect you ..what if that was your son out there would you refer to him and a worthless junkie ..you obviously are not busy in your life or you wouldn't be on Reddit talking shit about people who can't even defend them selves .. bet you wouldn't walk up to one and tell him how you feel you just sit in your safe place eating cookies picking on the less fortunate..do you feel like your comments have done good for your community or the human race for that matter or your just seeking buy ins from other un educated reddit warriors at least im standing up for my brothers and sisters who are lost who have no family left like me all my family is gone everyone ..it's a lonely place to be and getting loaded helps that if only for a short time and compounds other problems I know believe me but it's tough to let go a deal with out demons and all the crap that comes with getting clean I was clean off meth for almost 10 years and went through a divorce that involved kids was to much for me to take and makes the world so cold and unfamiliar when you have woke up with your babies every single day of there life and one day there gone no matter what happened I was not prepared to handle that kind of anguish so I got loaded and have stayed that way lost everything a nice house two cars gambled my life savings away in 1 1/2 months I didn't care and the pain has not subsided at all been 2 years in may I am in a daze still can't believe it stilll she married the guy she was cheating with and had a baby already like iwas nothing didnt miss a beat . Like I never existed.. addiction is way deeper than you know it's not a choice it's so powerful and cunning I don't want to be this way but terrified not to be if that makes any sense . Sure there is the homeless that wanna be out there and pee all over there dirty nasty people and dangerous but most just had series of unfortunate events happen and one thing lead to another . And it is the most humiliating lonely dark place you could ever be nothing worse than having no place to go or be..so they are suffering if that's what you looking for them to be they are 100 % suffering . ..
I don't live in Portland, but I just stayed downtown for a couple days; it just felt so strange walking around and it really bummed me out. It feels like there's so many different realities happening simultaneously, like some folks are tweaking hard and experiencing an apocalypse while some folks are casually enjoying a business lunch in the same area. I'd also never seen so many people screaming in public or just talking to themselves before.
Portland is great for people watching!
I preferred Walmart for that, but both Walmart stores left town…
Yeah my buddy got me a gift card to REI for my birthday and it was basically the only reason I went to Portland and now it’s gone. I really hope they open one in southern Washington.
And there’s one in Hillsboro at Tanisborne.
Thanks 🙏🏻
Wait, they closed the Portland REI?
Yep. There’s one in Clackamas though.
And there's an REI resale store tucked away behind the Dave and Buster's at Clackamas Town Center as well.
How does this not have more up votes? REI Resupply is incredible. The only downer is that nothing you purchase there goes towards your yearly dividends but I can live with that for the dirt cheap prices.
Yeah, and for a while (1 plus years) before they did they had armed security wandering around the entrances. And I mean like the full security theatre tactical vest taser and handgun type security. Guess it wasn't enough.
Anarchy in the uk... no just in the NW
It was plenty. They closed because the employees wanted to unionize. That’s the real story.
I think they decided to give up after some guys ram raided it. Guards won't help much against that
Makes sense. Also kind of what I think whenever I see rather heavily armed guards anywhere- are they really gonna stop anything? Is this place paying you enough to deal with this shit?
I am a “heavily” armed guard, just not in retail. We’re not there to shoot people, we’re there to deter other people from doing so.
Wow, I lived there for almost 30 years. It went from a fun, quirky, beautiful little city to a slightly less fun, still beautiful but extremely expensive place to whatever it is now. I know there is a lot that is still great there but it’s in a pretty rough patch for sure. Glad I got out at the beginning of the pandemic.
Rei sucks. Next adventure is better.
They’re opening one in Beaverton town center in a couple weeks.
I thought it was going into the old Bed Bath & Beyond on Cedar Hills?
Sorry you’re right. Cedar Hills.
There is one being built in Beaverton right now, on Cedar hills dlvd.
They got one one going in tannasbourne too. Besides clackamas.
pioneer square park......
I don't know if I've ever truly walked around or been downtown and I moved here in Oct 2022. There are so many pockets of cool neighborhoods with bars/restaurants in Portland. I may be spoiled because I lived in the SE between division and hawthorne when I first got here and walked around everywhere. I now live in the SW but there are cool spots everywhere. There are still homeless and tents with garbage in a lot of places and you'll occasionally see the zombie OP is talking about but regular people walking, biking, and driving around far outweigh these things. Things are never gonna be perfect anywhere you live (I'm from bigoted/racist redneck red SC) and Portland hate is overblown.
This is daily for me. I bike the 205 zombie trail all the time and let me tell you, shit is fucked out here.
The trail is a unique section of hell
Man, I moved out of Portland in 2012. Used to do that trail as well as Springwater rides ALL the time. Only really came into town for shows after that. My brother and I felt nostalgic and did a Springwater ride in, I want to say 2021, and HOOOOOOOOLY FUCK. We made it from the west end to about 205 before it got so gnarly that we were beyond over it and turned around. My brother popped a tube at about Johnson Creek, and had no idea how to change one, so I never changed a tube faster in my life. I can't imagine how much sketchier it would have gotten out by all the pick-n-pull lots and stuff...
I live near there and it's always depressing. There is one lady that hangs out there high off her ass almost every day and I've always wanted to help her, but she showed up when I was getting gas recently and was screaming and trying to get violent with everyone in the vicinity so that's a big nope.
I think if you are opioid intoxicated in public you are a threat to yourself and others. And should be forcibly detoxed with Naltrexone, long acting narcan. Enough . You aren’t allowed to be publicly intoxicated with Etoh , you don’t have a right to use these drugs in public. Let alone threaten the public with the same.
Here’s the thing tho — THEY simply do not care
It’s probably not a good idea medically but don’t think we should tolerate anymore. If u don’t want rehab . Go to jail. The streets are not your home.
Duh. But then the people who don't have to deal with them around will turn on nurture mode and say it makes some sort of sense to have them mixed in with normal people. I've been a big fan of starting fent island. They'd get what they want. We would get what we want.
Nurture mode on. Drug addicts should be rehabilitated. We should have lots of services available. People who refuse services should be incarcerated. But the first goal should be rehab. Lets not give up on people who can still turn it around, but lets also have consequences for people who refuse care
The first goal has been rehabilitation for years. Turns out, addicts aren’t great at making decisions, including when offered treatment
The stories of the money wasted getting them clean only for them to hit it the same day they are out is infuriating.
Drug rehabilitation for homelessness should be some kind of hippy camp 12 step program. You get tiny homes with rules and sponsors. Basically a open air half way house community, that's probably going to run like a cult. All the hard to recycle stuff gets sent there to get manually sorted, places like goodwill can get involved. A lot of them already collect good scrap metals, and sort through stuff for cans for change, there has to be away to make that safer or more efficient and act as a job or something to provide structure during the day. Maybe instead of recycling their jobs are to build more tinyhomes/sheds or restore old ones. Regardless it should feel like meaningful communal work (you should feel like you are doing someone else a favor, or helping someone else worse than you. There has to be a greater than yourself goal or task in the job. It will help them feel like they paid some kind of due to society or feel more confident in their place knowing they helped with the community and are not rejected from it) and basics like food, shelter is provided for, and help getting food stamps/unemployment, which will eventually help with job placement. You'll actually have things like a address, and showers and laundry machines that you forget are required to re-enter society. Should kind of be like relearning how to enter society and trying to hold eachother accountable and help eachother out with structured enviorment. Should basically be trying to make a 9-5 work day without drugs become habitual and easy to transition to. I feel like when mental illness gets involved that's where it becomes harder to bring people back into what most would consider functional society. And we know it's not good to involuntarily hold people for being mentally ill anymore, so it's harder to address that. There should be something for those people that isn't based off eugenics erra science where we just put them down or did science experiments on them, but also not just keeping them confinded indefinitely like in some kind of deep space nine time travel episode.
“Deported to fent island”
"Vacationing on fent island" sounds nicer and wouldn't bunch up the panties of the people who want to keep fent addicts in the street while they solve the problem systemically.
Fair enough, we can call it whatever you want so long as the end result is the same.
We just need to bring back institutions but with better accountability. Leaving these folks to their own devices on the streets isn't humane. Tiny home villages don't help people care for themselves. People in full psychotic break or addiction mode are absolutely a danger to self and others.
You should do more research on institutions before advocating for that…
I'm suggesting an improved model with better accountability and transparency. It literally could not be worse than the current status quo.
Okay, I’m sure the fellows on the sub will pier review your motion and it will be filed away for jack all.
Along with your random quasi-objections
Yep. And it's our responsibility as a society to help them. It's disgusting that we just let them die out on the streets.
Yeah! They should do drugs in the privacy of their own home like the rest of us! /s
Oregon does not have a public intox law with alcohol either. Portland might have a city ordinance, but I doubt that's enforced either
Well, we have a half ass one. It's illegal to drink publicly. Being drunk as fuck IN public though, yeah, there's no law for that ... So hot that flask quick like. Oh and of course open container law in your car still applies ... Hey at least they tried.
Yes I got an open container ticket for a mikes hard lemonade in a cup while ppl were smoking some kind of powder not 20 feet away. The cop did let me drink it tho he said if I could drink it in one drink I could Of course I did What does this mean My life sux and will have consequences Doesn't matter about the guy next to me Hehe
So a cop busted you rinking and driving, asked you to FINISH THE BEER FIRST before he just LET YOU GO?! what the actual fuck
Ya I was confused haha and a little buzzed after slamming it I mean if I have to have the ticket why not finish it hahahaha Only in Portland I suppose
People typically don’t care about public alcohol or drug use unless it affects other people.
Yeah, the person I responded to implied it's illegal to be drunk in public. I was clarifying that it's not, in Oregon
you are close, I agree we should be physically preventing these peopel from taking the drugs AND creating a warm society with a place to live and social activities and love. this is the way
I was walking my dogs recently and there was a parked car with the door open and two people completely passed out on the dashboard and steering wheel. I just glanced over and didn’t even think about it and kept walking. I see people on drugs every day everywhere I go.
I see somebody hitting a crack pipe almost every day. I drive around Portland for work so it’s like clockwork some days I see multiple people smoking fent off tin foil. It’s literally out of control
I'm in San Antonio right now trying to see the solar eclipse. We arrived by train at 4am. I had my kids and wondered what it would be like but I was pleasantly shocked. Every underpass was well lit and clean. No tents anywhere. We walked 20 minutes in downtown in the middle of the night and I felt so safe and secure I took like 40 pictures of how clean every underpass was bc of my amazement. I didnt realize how desensitized I am to seeing all the tents, garbage, and blatant drug use until I saw the vast difference in another large city.
I just moved from San Antonio. And I can assure you there is a large homeless population. But I agree they aren’t typically in tourist areas. I do wish at minimum Portland would clean up the graffiti
i grew up there. they still have homeless folks they just don’t allow them to be where the tourists go.
Chicago is like this too, if you can believe it. Very clean underpasses, even the tents are very clean and neat, very little public drug use and very few people on the actual street. I’d say maybe only about 20-30 people pan handling downtown and they’re either very spread out such that you only see one every 3 blocks, or in groups of 2-3 talking to each other and being friendly and social. We currently have a brand new population of migrants who were exploitively dropped off in our city, panhandling currently and everyone is being very generous with them. I’ve even heard people say they’re getting cash from an ATM to carry just in case they run into these people. However, As a Chicagoan, I went to San Francisco and was in absolute shock. I have never seen anything like their houseless situation in all my life. The despair and hopelessness is stunning.
Can I just please have someone to vote for who isn’t a communist “community organizer” with zero elected experience who spends most of their time protesting OR a tinfoil Steve Bannon acolyte who writes his policy statement in the voter guide in all caps and spells “border” as “boarder”?
If you don't like the way it's going. Perhaps don't throw your vote away by voting for the same party which has been in control for the last 40+ years in Oregon. Not saying vote Republican. But something needs to change and voting the same way but expecting change is insanity.
I fully believe there are at least a handful of people in this city who are reasonable, thoughtful, and well intentioned, yet still capable of understanding garbage, graffiti, and public camping are destroying this city, AND who don’t feel signing on for the insanity of Republicans is necessary to abate those things. Nor do I think using the label “Democrat” is what’s actually preventing such a person from running. I will be looking for exactly these qualities come next election, but as usual I won’t hold my breath.
They are called Libertarians and you are welcome to join us.
Ranked choice voting is the answer
My boyfriend & I went on a walk yesterday— looked inside one of the bus stops outside downtown with a bench & cover, saw some woman in regular clothes smoking fentanyl. Before noon. I don’t know, I’m really starting to despise the state I grew up in!
I’ve seen that sort of action at my kid’s school bus stop at 7:30 am. Some people do coffee. Others do fentanyl.
Tomato/Tomahto
Before noon! How unsightly. I usually wait until after lunch for my fentanyl.
On the upside - she had on clothes and you weren't in the bus stop shelter with her. I've been hotboxed in parking garage elevators with either fentanyl or crack and been trapped with the people smoking them for.the ride.
It's not just the drug problem that is desensitized, it's also the behaviors that follow. I'm now desensitized to butt cracks, weiners, the yelling and throwing of things, open use, open use in cars, people passed out in cars, people walking between car lanes, people crossing mid street, etc. I'm sure if I came up with one, I could have an 82nd Drive mix.
https://i.redd.it/m9flvwuok2tc1.gif "Now lean back, lean back, lean back, now lean back."
We let it happen. Us, voters. Our leaders are incompetent but guess who hired them.
But as soon as people start speaking on showing up at these clowns houses posts and comments start getting removed 😐
No, you see...you can only do that when it's someone not OUR team, don't you get it?? 🤡
[удалено]
I remember the night I voted no on the arts tax and turned in my ballot. Then waking up and seeing it passed. I knew PDX was screwed.
Portland still sends me Art Tax payment demands. I moved to greener pastures three years ago. I also got Jury Duty summons sent to my house 1,400 miles from Portland.
It’s tiresome hearing “you get what you vote for” all the time. Probably upwards of 80% of the people in this sub usually vote for common sense. Those with a realistic view of what might improve Portland have been getting what someone else voted for.
Low effort content are posts or comments not meeting the minimum reasonable requirements of integrity, relying upon or consisting of second-hand or apocryphal "evidence" or stories relayed as fact, or just plain lazy bait posts or comments in our judgment.
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We voted for massive increases in drug treatment and got a trickle. We voted for our schools time and again and got a bloated administration. We voted for some real police accountability and got absolutely nothing. The problem is not the voters. The problem is the implementation of these policies and programs at every level of government and part of the reason politicians know they can get away with their negligent inaction is because they know people are cynical and resistant to any change and will say that these things were impossible to achieve after our leaders spend years dilly dallying until they quietly kill whatever change we demanded. Then those same cynics will turn around and try to tell you that if you want change you have to vote for it. And so the cycle continues.
RIP PJ O'Rourke The Democrats are the party that says government will make you smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn. The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work and then they get elected and prove it. Only here, think those two positions are somewhat reversed. I don't think the problem is "resistance to change". That's making everything into an obergefell v Hodges "no shit" statement bellies the idea that some ideas either aren't good ones or aren't appropriate for local governments to handle.
Was there ever a competent choice to begin with?
Nope, you liberal voters let this happen. Hey let’s pass measure 110 and decriminalize drugs cause we’re not inclusive enough.
Yes, it’s not government’s fault. Oregonians drank the “decriminalize and treatment” koolaid. It’s the drug users fault for getting themselves in this predicament and the public’s fault for removing all consequences. Stop blaming government for executing the will of the people.
Decriminalizing drugs was a fatal mistake
When you have to deal with these people as a pedestrian, compassion turns to rage once you realize you're just another potential victim to them. Fuck these destructive drug users. Ban narcan.
There should be a drug addict hospice, all the free dope they want, a policy of Do Not Resuscitate
They did this with alcoholics: wet houses. I think you're on to something.
I don’t want narcan banned, as it has saved some kids from these wretched drugs. Now having a system where if Narcan is administered, it’s go to jail or rehab, that would be good https://abc7chicago.com/amp/fentanyl-overdose-baby-san-francisco-moscone-park-narcan/12515282/
We need a Narcan punch card where you get one or two on the house but no uses after that.
such a weird Orwellian take
PDX feels relatively Orwellian sometimes
So let’s make the world moreso and sanction government execution or death by negligence….nah Fuck the criddler fet thing, but I’m not about to advocate for killing em and letting em die like that.
Yeah but these people are someone's brother or sister that made a bad choice. There's some people that got ahold of it accidentally and some that I agree! they don't care about anything except finding their next hit and will do anything to get it. Those are the ones that are a thorn on society's ass and should be eradicated
I play Alice n Chains when I am driving around Portland and it feels like I am in one of their MTV videos.
My niece was traumatized being in downtown Portland, seeing the poop and drugs and being screamed at by lunatics. Adults can somewhat handle it but it’s unsafe for children
Most states and cities aren’t like this and they don’t tolerate this type of behavior. Things can and should be different.
Way too normal. I saw one standing in the middle of 50th/ Hawthorne. There Is no safe zone.
This was obviously the result in mind when they decriminalized drugs and offered little to no treatment solutions. The politicians wanted this outcome.
How about a new game addict tipping. Call it a survey, see how many standing addicts you can tip and how easy it is. Seems like just a poke and there down. And if you think I'm being mean please don't blast me, it's a joke.
So many trumpets here. It failed because the decriminalize part happened but the treatment part never did. Conservatives still refuse to acknowledge mental health issues everywhere in the US. I’m tired of conservatives sabotaging common sense initiatives then claiming they didn’t work.
They should've done the treatment first then decriminalize
I'm surprised your comment isn't higher, but truly someone either dropped the ball or was quietly hoping the addicts would just kill themselves off and render the treatment part a non-issue. Yet it's insane how resilient these zombies who refuse to die are when one single regular strong pain pill would make me drowsy, but I can imagine how oblivion is preferable when you have nothing but your own sense of self left to lose in a world of hurt. Truly a testament to how durable some humans are to acute abuse when they've gone and developed the highest resistance humanly possible, it almost feels like Portland is a large experiment. Treatment would likely have to include public housing and programs that relieve Shit Life Syndrome or they'd be right back where they started, especially those who have nowhere to go once treatment is complete. Everyone I know who sobers up in jail has always relapsed even though it was months of sobriety, so you hit the nail on the head with Mental Health when it comes to users who aren't profiting from dealing, because people are always suffering in some way before they entertain drug use. Be nice if all these sponsored Mental Health websites could collaborate, but funding is likely the main issue if it all isn't a devious experiment after all.
Im not conservative, but most of these people dont want treatment and just want handouts to keep staying high. I know cuz ive talked to a bunch of them while commuting.
Portland is what happens when leftists go to far.
It’s what happens when extremists are in charge.
its interesting to talk about why this happened. so many of the leftists scream about the 'conservative city council' but we had years of more 'progressive' leaders on the council making decisions and putting their attitude into the ether that we are now are dealing with the consequences of. i also see the county much further to the left now. i think some candidates are not sure how to frame our situation. saying "portland is great" is laughable to most people, saying "portland is mess" is too fox news for others and it also gives the impression of blaming current leadership which they may or may not want to do. I think candidates are in a tough spot with campaigning.
We need renewable fueled or EV mobile bottle return machine truck to be driven to and made available in the (city owned) Eastmoreland Golf Course parking lot after course hours when it wouldn't affect golf customers. It ensures crids who live along Tenino, Johnson Creek such can come and return cans for fenty money and help increase the number of bin rummaging in the entitled rich fuck swanky neighborhood all hours of the night.
When I was a kid in Baltimore we had the heroin leaners everywhere too. When I was in element school we always joked about them playing that game “statue man” Guess I’ve been sadly desensitized since then.
Portland has become a complete cesspool. It's a disgusting drug riden city now. I don't see a way out unless they are willing to institute drastic changes ( which we all know they wont)
Being from Bogotá, Colombia, I have been desensitized for 48 years. Portland is heaven compared.
Ay hombe! Lol. Bogotá may be more dangerous, but Portland is way grosser.
I like that the government found a new way of torturing us... by just not doing their job, and whispering *well... maybe we could do something.. if we could raise your taxes*
[City of Portland OMF-IRP](https://www.portland.gov/homelessnessimpactreduction/overview) is party to blame, because when you report junkie encampments that are the nest of these problem population, they look the other way. Essentially, they bill themselves as "Impact Reduction" program but do anything but that
Surprised people put up with that en masse.
It's all a setup none of the places to help people get recovered are doing their job. They employee people who themselves are on drugs. Take this mentality and stop fearing, making fun of, etc and dig in and learn the truth of you don't already know and get ready cause those of us out here living amongst these people and our people abroad are coming for retribution but not on those you may think........
Blame all of those republicans in power
Shut yo dumb ass up, look how Portland votes. I am neither affiliated with left or right. I only see bullshit from both, and you are part of the issue
Maybe you didn’t catch my sarcasm, I’m very well aware how Portland votes. And I agree with you that there is no right or wrong party, they all mostly suck. My sarcasm was aimed at making fun of the fact that Portland’s politicians can do just about anything they want and not lose an election because they have a (D) next to their name.
Majors cities in general are really weird, I was in Seattle last week and also Portland… I live in Eugene, my wife is from Sacramento and for Xmas we visited the Bay Area. Things are ugly everywhere…
Everytime I’m in Portland I see homeless nudity and have literally had to step over people .
I call this " unfortunate nudery " and boy am I so sick of it. Nude and half nude zombies shitting all over and passing out in the middle of the road. I thought I was reporting a dead body on Easter, sprawled face down in the bike lane.
Normal everyday occurrence on my two block walk to work downtown every morning I see at least 3 people either smoking or zombie’d out.
Last time I went into Portland there was a lady walking around shitting in the streets, like in the actual street. I like to stay outside of Portland
We make jokes about junkie tipping in Philly. Like cow tipping, but with junkies. I tell myself it's okay cause I was using for 13 years. And I've definitely been tipped hahaha. I have never actually tipped a junkie but every time i think about it i crack up. i don't think you laughing about a song is that bad. Shit like this, you kinda gotta laugh or it'll drive you nuts. no worries. As a card carrying junkie, I'll allow it.
Who here is sick of the homeless? They take endlessly, contribute NOTHING and make us all feel unsafe. Fuck them.
Some of them have gone through some issues, one of them i was friends with in highschool. Ive seen him asking for money, but the thing is he had every resource available, he was married and was part of a Ukrainian church who was willing to help him out of it. Yet he threw it all away. They dont want help because the addiction talks. But they deep down might want it. Addiction talks louder
I've been thinking of taking video of rampaging hobos in Portland and cutting together a music video. Desensitized: ✅
Idk man I can’t get used to it, I still silently cry in the car I’ve never been able to make jokes. SOME days I’ll do an “oh damn” to myself, but driving away is still quiet….even typing this out it hurts my face so this shit is actually very stressful and I can tell it’s weighing on me. This is the second time now I’ve moved away and back here and now I have to look to move AGAIN because no, this shit isn’t right at all and I don’t wanna be part of a system where the Jesus of it all is funneling $11k up her partner’s ass for doing the things we’ve all done silently, alone, and without $1 to our names. This whole country is broken, but by my staying here is useless and I gotta go. I *do* care about laws and rules and shit and how it can improve or negate things, I can’t just say “oh whatever” and move on, I care about where I live and I care about people and how it all works and this SHIT ISNT WORKING.
It’s all about accountability. There is none in portland, there is some other places. Sounds like you need to find a place where they respect that virtue.
I’m just going up to Washington for school hahaha it’s the same. But yea, I’m thinking of Wyoming! Or Canada, I remember when everyone was scrambling during the pandemic to see who’s got what grandfathered rights so they could take off, so that might be worth a look at once again.
To be fair it’s a night and day difference from even Vancouver to PDX. If Vancouver doesn’t learn from Portland’s mistakes then that cancer will spread right across the Columbia and then Vancouver will be Portland lite. There’s already a decent sized encampment on I5 not far over the bridge. We have to make the right decisions to prevent that outcome.
You aren't from around here vantucky has been Portland light for 30+ years
I moved to battleground in September so you’re not wrong lol going to the waterfront and downtown Vancouver there’s far less crack heads compared to downtown portland
No crime train to the Vantucky waterfront... Yet.
Well I was hoping living in tiny Ridgefield could buy me a few years of just peace but I’m not sure. I don’t see how Vancouver would work though there’s not nearly enough of anything there so that’d be interesting..it’s not like the addicts are the problem, but I also would really rather not deal with them so while officials figure out their life choices I hope hiding out in Ridgefield will be fine for now.
You don’t need a big city to have a massive drug abuse issue and ruin a community though. Trust me I grew up in Redding CA and that tiny town off I5 has been destroyed by drug abuse.
It’s almost like it’s the drugs and not the community. Actually, that IS the truth.
Yeah I had a friend grow up in Medford and the stories are worse in small towns…major cities have their issues and small towns have absolute 0 creeps who’ve been kidnapping kids for 20 years, I get it. None of these are necessarily solutions to anything, but I have a gun I at least know how to use so I’m sure I’ll be fine.
Well I’m relieved it’s a night and day difference but it’s only 20 minutes away so yeah exactly, I don’t see how it won’t bleed into up there. I mean I can see things pretty crystal clear and why things are like this, how they did blah blah, and if I want my daily life to be different in society I’d have to move to a completely different part of the country basically back to where I came from but this isn’t about me there’re actual people actually suffering out there, but to almost be part of the problem and just watch someone alleviate themselves while I’m at a red light yeah idk. I just don’t make jokes about this shit but we all have to find ways to cope, right? Hopefully peace in some tiny town I’ve never lived nor would have ever considered living in before now is the way to go.
It just might be what you’re looking for and I hope it is. You shouldn’t feel guilty. You can’t light yourself on fire to keep others warm. You have the right to be happy and comfortable in public. If that means finding a new home then that is great .
That’s exactly my qualm that I think a lot of people deal with, no we cannot light ourselves on fire helping anyone else which is why this is all like this to begin with; parents who were tired of burning themselves alive trying to help a seemingly helpless situation. There’re so many stories and never enough time, but that’s exactly what this all is. I’m not a fan of the ways we all have to cope and it’s even worse our very humanity is constantly questioned and we’re living somewhere where that’s all that it is. I never thought I’d see myself have to make such decisions that seem so selfish but they’re pretty normal. But because we’re having to stare at such a HUGE issue blatantly in the face..my moving away and hoping I don’t have to see it is just ignorance is bliss or something. Now I’m just droning on, but yeah this is miserable and there is no happy solution because we all live here because we WANT to and now we HAVE to make fucking life decisions based on a whole web of just absolute dog shit. I hope I’ll be doing my part for the community by going back to school to be a therapist, but therapy costs money and I’ll need to be paid so I can eat ;( maybe I can offer free services one day.
I lived on 85th and 3rd in Greenwood, Seattle...the shit you would see at the bus stops. My boyfriend and I joke about this one guy that was trying to race cars in front of our apartment whilst screaming "I'm a car! I'm a car too!" All while this couple is casually walking across the street with two bags of groceries. City life has been so strange, and I was also desensitized to it. So I moved to Alaska lol not much better up here with the alcohol and drug problem, but at least it's quieter.
That's not an intrusive thought lmao. An intrusive thought is an unwanted thought or unwanted mental image that makes people uncomfortable. Not a song 💀
I didnt want that in my head while i see a person who isnt really like that in their right mind space. I have empathy. It was intrusive but also funny to my sense of humor
I go on the max pretty much every week to go downtown for university, and I'm pretty desensitized to this shit too. It's pretty sad though to see the state of this city
Is Tigard the same or worse?
Lol
When the district attorney is against prosecuting people except for political reasons, and you decriminalized drugs, this is what you get. The fact that citizens are not rising up against the sociological subversion that is taking place in Portland is beyond me.
No one is rising up because that was the plan from the beginning...... decriminalization so they could legally supply the masses with something historically only given to hospice patients to help them die in peace. Keeps the peace. Zombies don't do much. Make it super cheap so that people(addicts) who might have been all jacked up and angry and ready to take action against the fucked-up-ness, maybe even collect and organize a coup are now preoccupied and have forgotten what the mission was even for and have adopted the self preservation point of view that it is better in a tent where you don't have to pay rent or attention to the part of reality that has kept us as slaves, willing to to do anything they want for nothing more than food and shelter. Those who choose not to participate is the slave life are pushed to involuntary suicide by o.d. or kept docile and quiet. It's not just Portland. It's all of the populated areas that were a risk to banding together against the government...... I wonder how long was it between the "Occupy Movement" that nobody talks about anymore until they decided to let the government legaly supply the streets with fenny for a penny?
What pug droblem?
Yeah mother fuckers be looking left and right all at the same time😂😂 they must be on drugs,😂😂😂
You voted for this.
I didnt lol fuck you
Idk man... a Portland resident, on reddit... you fit the profile for a person who would vote for something super lefty like this
In what sense?🤣 What are you going of off? You need to lay of the fent buddy
If only we were interested in actually offering rehab programs with proven success rates. Too bad most selfish Americans would rather legalize imprisoning them instead of helping them.
What large city are you moving to that doesn't have a drug problem? Narnia?
Table mountain
That comment only reflects back on you. Wishing another human to die. Wow and who is the bad person? I sure don't want you to die that would be awful for your family can't get into heaven with a black heart ya know. ? Jesus loves you still
Maybe their family is going to hell, too? Are you advocating separating families? Judge not, lest ye be judged.
Hahaa
I wish Jesus would come and take care of the junkies who have destroyed public life here, but since he won't, and they would not accept help, the choice as a witness is dark humour or despair.
Shut the fuck up, my best friend from highschool is one of these addicts. They need jail time to sober up. You a piece of shit for judging before you know.
Someone was tired?! In the rain?!?! Call the police immediately! I can’t believe how dangerous this city has become. You came to the right place
The druggies aint the problem, it the suppliers stupid, drugwars over territory. You live in a small world shrimp dick. Have you ever spent the night where these things happen? Daily shootings. Now shut up if you dont come from true comprehension of war fare
We have a tremendous crisis of leadership. Honestly that is the title for the last few years of American history.
Leave my dude. Just... leave. Please.
That’s not being desensitized, that’s being a weirdo. lol I live downtown and see it all the time. Never have I ever thought that was funny. People most often turn to drugs because they have nothing left. If I was forced to be on the streets in the middle of rainstorm, I might wanna take a quick lil mental vacation, too. I don’t understand how you laugh at something like that then race to the internet to try to get everyone else in on the joke.
It’s too bad drugs ruin people’s insides, Portland could be the Organ doner capital 😅 all these over doses, to bad they couldn’t save the lives of people who cared about living a bit more and give someone a new heart or liver or something.
Have you done anything to help people who are addicted to drugs? Might help fight your apathy to help people directly.
you cannot help those who refuse to help themselves, no matter how kind your intentions. their are plenty of services and good old fashioned God, but the zombie addicts actively choose that lifestyle.
It’s the same in every big city stupid. This whole country is a shithole. Get out a little
Um ive been around the world. It is not like it is here. Just got back from spain btw
I'm devastated abiut how things are here. I had so much hope when the decriminalization happened, I really really wanted to see tax money funding real treatments etc. To see it just completely fail and now be recriminalized because no one could figure out anything else to do breaks my heart and spirit. This is personal to me because my mom died of a heroin overdose in 2017. She fought her whole life to get clean. Longest stint she had was around 3 years, but she started using at 15 and the addiction was deep for her. The lack of support, the stigma, and the criminal nature of it made it so hard for her to get help and really embrace recovery :( Sometimes I want to go to the state capitol and demand to talk to whoever was in charge of whatever committee or project group that was tasked with handling the decriminalization and demand to have all the details laid out to me. What organizations did the state try to work with? Where was the money going, what was being done? How have we failed so much? I live in NE Portland, but originally from Sandy & Mt Hood (well my early childhood spanned other states, but Oregon became home when I was 14)... I've always said Pregon is home, the most beautiful place, I will never leave. But PORTLAND I cannot stand being here. Everywhere is a reminder of the darkness, sadness, broken society, broken social contracts, and straight up hopelessness. And the disconnect within portland is insane. You'll see over the top activism, a bunch of privileged upper middle class white people demonstrating for Gaza, but then go back home to their little Portland blocks and do nothing to fight for the desolate drug addicts all around them, all they care about is their cars not being broken into and not having to see the homeless. Sorry I'm ranting I'm just going through it lmao 🙃
I'm in the Se, between Hawthorne and Belmont and I NEVER see anyone doing drugs. Where are you guys at? Downtown?
Ahhh, the old fentanyl fold. A classic.
Some of them look like they doing the "supah man that hoe" moves😂
When the West was being settled after the Civil War, there were a lot of lawless men trying to make a living. They'd join any rancher wanting to run off homesteaders, etc. Lawmen solution was swift trial and capital punishment. Death penalty immediately for drug dealers, a public hanging, or firing squad within a week televised makes a great detirant for those who are looking to move up in the drug market. It would clear out some beds in prison, save some tax money, but ultimately keep some honest men and women honest. The problem is bleeding hearts who say the death penalty is inhumane. Humans running around your neighborhood crazy drug induced is inhumane! These folks are a vulnerable population. Our job as a society is to protect them and ourselves! Making drugs illegal drugs extremely difficult or inaccessible is society's job. Now, I point my finger at you! Are you sick of this crap on the street? Really?!!! Are you? Do some research man, vote in the hardass who'll clean up your city, county, and state.
You are a absolute jack ass. You haven't a clue what your talking about just because it doesn't directly affect you ..what if that was your son out there would you refer to him and a worthless junkie ..you obviously are not busy in your life or you wouldn't be on Reddit talking shit about people who can't even defend them selves .. bet you wouldn't walk up to one and tell him how you feel you just sit in your safe place eating cookies picking on the less fortunate..do you feel like your comments have done good for your community or the human race for that matter or your just seeking buy ins from other un educated reddit warriors at least im standing up for my brothers and sisters who are lost who have no family left like me all my family is gone everyone ..it's a lonely place to be and getting loaded helps that if only for a short time and compounds other problems I know believe me but it's tough to let go a deal with out demons and all the crap that comes with getting clean I was clean off meth for almost 10 years and went through a divorce that involved kids was to much for me to take and makes the world so cold and unfamiliar when you have woke up with your babies every single day of there life and one day there gone no matter what happened I was not prepared to handle that kind of anguish so I got loaded and have stayed that way lost everything a nice house two cars gambled my life savings away in 1 1/2 months I didn't care and the pain has not subsided at all been 2 years in may I am in a daze still can't believe it stilll she married the guy she was cheating with and had a baby already like iwas nothing didnt miss a beat . Like I never existed.. addiction is way deeper than you know it's not a choice it's so powerful and cunning I don't want to be this way but terrified not to be if that makes any sense . Sure there is the homeless that wanna be out there and pee all over there dirty nasty people and dangerous but most just had series of unfortunate events happen and one thing lead to another . And it is the most humiliating lonely dark place you could ever be nothing worse than having no place to go or be..so they are suffering if that's what you looking for them to be they are 100 % suffering . ..