The Oregon House will vote on a bill that will help save lives from opioid overdose. Representative Ed Diehl (R-Turner) introduced an amendment that replaced House Bill 2395, reducing barriers for quick action in response to overdose of opioid in the application of short-acting opioid antagonist. Fentanyl is gripping Oregon’s young people, and this bill allows school administrators, teachers and employees to administer without liability or need for permission when a student is experiencing an opioid overdose.

The bill authorizes Oregon Health Authority to issue short-acting opioid antagonist kits and medical supplies to individual or entity who have encounters with people at risk of overdose. Decision to administer or not is immune from criminal and civil liability.

HB 2395 is the result of a bipartisan coalition and has earned the support of harm reduction advocates, law enforcement, clinicians, students, educators, local governments and our public health system. The bill combines previously introduced legislation into an omnibus harm reduction package focused on increasing access to overdose reversal medication and on the ground prevention, improving overdose data, and modernizing Oregon’s harm reduction statutes.

In 2021 over 745 Oregonians died from opioid overdoses, and nearly three Oregonians a day die from this tragic and growing epidemic across the entire state. According to the Oregon Health Authority, fentanyl is now the second leading cause of unintentional overdose in Oregon. KGW reported that in 2022, crews collected 176,962 needles in the Downtown Enhanced Service area which covers a 213 block area in Portland. The needles came from public right of ways, as well as four drop box sites installed by Multnomah County within the district.

Fox News said addicts in Portland are reportedly turning to their food stamps to fuel their drug addiction, recycling bottles to garner cash to buy more fentanyl, all at the expense of the city's taxpayers. Portland resident Angela Todd released shocking footage showing people on the streets appearing to dump out water bottles shortly before cashing in on the plastic to raise money to buy more drugs.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

“It is impossible to ignore the profoundly tragic impact illicitly-manufactured fentanyl is having across Oregon,” said Representative Maxine Dexter (D-Portland), a board-certified physician. “Our responsibility, as elected leaders, is to ensure the health and safety of Oregonians. This package is an opportunity to urgently take data-driven action that will start saving lives almost immediately upon passage.”

“People are dying in escalating numbers because fentanyl is killing them,” said Multnomah County Commissioner and Emergency Physician Sharon Meieran. “[...] This package can be the state’s defibrillator to save lives now, reduce suffering, reduce hospitalization, and give Oregonians from all corners of the state a chance at recovery.”

“Protecting Oregonians, maintaining safe communities and ensuring quality of life for Oregonians is the primary objective for Oregon’s public safety professionals,” testified the Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association, the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police, and the Oregon District Attorney’s Association. “The Opioid Harm Reduction Policy Package takes important steps to address barriers to harm reduction efforts with a focus on saving lives.”

“Fentanyl is wreaking havoc across Oregon. This is a pain my community knows all too well. We must do everything possible to save lives, and this legislation is a step in the right direction,” said Representative Morgan (R-Grants Pass).

Representative Bobby Levy (R- Echo) expressed concern that the bill allows a minor to obtain outpatient diagnosis or treatment of a substance use disorder without parental knowledge or consent. She states, “In my opinion, one of the main contributors to drug addiction is the fact that parents are not involved. Parents should be more involved, mental health providers get dealt a vague criteria that says they are able to withhold information from the parent, if the mental health provider ‘determines that it is not in the minor’s best interest to disclose the information’. In some circumstances I believe that may be the correct course of action but it can become obtuse and leave room for harmful decisions to be made on the behalf of another person that may need support from their parent.”


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2023-02-25 12:40:03

Last Update: 2023-02-25 17:23:21