Hi Nick … And greetings from North Powder Oregon. I don’t know if you remember me or not, ( Judy Brown’s son)..you were a senior when I was a freshman at YC.. If you have never been here, or have never heard of here?.. it is 22 miles east of LaGrande and about 19 miles west of Baker. My wife Teri have a second home here and this entire little town speaks to everything that you are speaking of and have been speaking of since the start of this campaign. Generational poverty, ignorance, conspiracy theory, generational alcohol and drug abuse, and all the other horrid ills that are plaguing the eastern part of the state. I do not know anyone in this town that is vaccinated for COVID-19 with the exception of one transplant friend from Northern California. I completely understand, and can’t help but wonder what My Wife and I can do to help you reach so many of the “unreachable”. This is “Trump country”… and flags are still flying? Advice? Strategy? Best regards- AL Brown.
I hope you can find researchers who can put a dollar figure on the cost SAVINGS of supporting a struggling third grader, helping them graduate and eventually support a family and PAY taxes. To say the program to help them is too expensive denies the extreme financial and emotional cost to them and to society as a whole. Faculty in rural socioecnomics at OSU should be able to help calculate all that! The modeling is complex but not impossible. I am proud of you for running for governor. (You are brave to run towards the problems!)
Can people in other states help man the hotlines, like firemen and police come to help places outside their own?
Dr. Jud Brewer at Yale, an addiction psychiatrist, has a breakthrough addiction-stopping program that helps you replace your addiction craving with mindfulness. Nicholas Kristof MUST bring him to Oregon and see if his program can work for people in wretched poverty, homelessness, generational poverty, etc. as well as it does for people with more comfortable lives. (I'm using his "Unwinding Anxiety" program -- which feels like regular sessions with a psychiatrist -- but it's actually an app.) See https://drjud.com.
Sadly, other states are almost as bad off as Oregon. I say this as a mental health and addictions counselor and treatment program developer who has worked in two states, one of them Connecticut in a program allied with Yale. I'm glad Dr. Brewer's program is helping you, but no one approach can do all that is needed to help people live without substances they have become addicted to. The solution, in my opinion, starts with services at all levels and ages, mostly outpatient, to assess needs and help people find solutions to their issues, whatever they may be. No state does this, as far as I know.
Thank you Barbara, I'm glad to hear an expert weigh in. But I still think Dr. Brewer and Nicholas Kristof should sit down for an hour and talk about how Dr. Brewer could help, since his $30 app (and it's much more like a video therapy course then it is an "app" as we think of iti) is much easier to access than a counselor or a government-paid mental health facility. Those two minds might come up with something together that could help a lot of people in Oregon. Thank you also for all the work you have done to help people escape hell and find happiness.
Thank you, Sarah, for your kind words. Sadly, mental health and addiction counseling is far from being as accessible as it should be, as we were promised when state hospitals were closed. There are many good addiction specialists out there, some MDs, some not, who could help devise solutions. Sadly, it won't happen until government is willing to put money into treatment rather than interdiction.
I was shocked that Oregon is the No. 1 state for illicit drug use. Being from Alabama, I immediately thought that infamous title would belong in the South. Thank you for being a reliable source of information.
Mr. Kristoff, you are absolutely right, these things need to be done. Suggestion-don't say or try to do everything at once and don't try to solve the problems with just money. People who care are the solution. Money is necessary to support them, but people are what will solve the problems. Good luck
I’m a Portland Liberal who voted to legalize narcotic drugs rather than criminalize them. However, like all citizen initiatives that get passed, there’s an assumption government jurisdictions can find the money to support them. I would like to see a plan that explains specifically the facilities and staff we need to make this work. Then we can determine the best way to provide the system of care we need. Thanks for inspiring these discussions.
P.S. I also know some polarization of voters is a result of the way Portlanders vote, but truly everyone is looking for the best solution.
There’s a comment below about all the poorly administered programs that aren’t monitored and agencies not fulfilling contracts. Nothing works if we don’t provide modern computers and communications systems to public employees. Many agencies rely on schedules to replace equipment piecemeal. Electronic efficiency is needed in every department of government.
I don’t see any discussion of the use of suboxone to help with narcotic addiction. I worked for Bassett Healthcare in upstate NY. They partnered with U of Mass and educated primary care doctors about prescribing suboxone. I was skeptical, but became a proponent as I watched people turn their lives around, and deaths from overdoses drop, especially among young adults.
Thank you Nick for continuing to raise the issues of homelessness, addiction, and unfortunately their criminalization. The cost of dealing with these is much less than than our continued expense both human and monetary. There are stats out there that can make that point. Unfortunately the notion that 'charity' can address these issues is rampant, and leaves only bandaids over a bigger problem. I worked in an amazing homeless shelter system in Maine. Overnight to life housing opportunities, addiction treatment, and mental health treatment. 40 years ago, Maryland put their shelter, mental health, and prison system under one Department, so folks could end up where they needed to be without being criminalized. There are great federal funding opportunities for cities and counties. Yamhill currently is in a continumm of care with 52 other counties in Oregon, preventing them from receiving what they would be eligible for to address homelessness. Resistance to utilizing federal funds keeps Oregon from receiving eligible funding.
Addiction services tied to religious organizations exclude many folks from seeking shelter, and can only rely on charitable contributions. I am thankful you are exploring good, proven programs that can change these terrible statistics.
So sad! And (for me) such a surprise that Oregon would be #1 for drug use... But I just finished reading "Invisible Child" and unfortunately, the same problems happen in a metropolis like New York city, and it is so discouraging that children of addicted, jobless, homeless people have a very hard time getting out of that loop, despite help...
Thank you to the undisclosed writer who clearly understands the "politics" of what is going in Oregon as we pretend to serve the most vulnerable people in our state. Serving our mentally ill and drug addicted citizens is a big business that has been allowed to flourish by our state leaders. I have worked with Oregon state funded mental health and addiction programs for 30 years, so I know that what the undisclosed writer is telling us the truth. Oregon needs to clean house, stop lining the pockets of the facilities that are not doing a good job. Blaming the mentally ill, unhoused, and addicted people for not using the services offered must stop. The service providers, in too many cases, are not following through on their contracts. The communities must be given the resources they need to support their vulnerable citizens and the monitoring of these programs has to be done by a completely separate entity. Clearly, the state cannot monitor its own programs. The federal government has tried to monitor our programs, but Oregon has wiggled out of being held accountable time and time again. The fact that Oregon has the highest drug use in the country is understandable when you know the spotty performances of the programs that we have as well as the corruption. Of course, the coordinated care organizations, NAMI, SEIU and AFSCME oppose an out of state hospital setting up here. If that happened, they would lose their control. If they are all “in bed together” nothing will change. We need new blood, that's why we need Nick Kristof. If elected, Nick will not have an easy time of it, but I think he understands where many of our problems start and he knows that we need a fresh group of people to take care of our most vulnerable citizens.
Thank you so much for continuing to highlight the cascading problems of poverty, homelessness and addiction. Some years ago, I ran an delinquency intervention agency. I placed a number of children, mostly girls, in group homes where they did well, until they came back to the old environment with parents who had not changed. I began a parenting class for those parents that they found helpful. But I could not easily place a 12 year old boy with an apparent mental illness, not even for a thorough evaluation, a child psychiatric unit because there were only about 12 beds in the entire state of SC. I found out much later that a physical illness was causing his behavior. When this was addressed, the behavior went away. If we don't address problems in children, we perpetuate issues when they are adults. We are fools to refuse to spend the money it would take to improve these situations.
Hi Nick … And greetings from North Powder Oregon. I don’t know if you remember me or not, ( Judy Brown’s son)..you were a senior when I was a freshman at YC.. If you have never been here, or have never heard of here?.. it is 22 miles east of LaGrande and about 19 miles west of Baker. My wife Teri have a second home here and this entire little town speaks to everything that you are speaking of and have been speaking of since the start of this campaign. Generational poverty, ignorance, conspiracy theory, generational alcohol and drug abuse, and all the other horrid ills that are plaguing the eastern part of the state. I do not know anyone in this town that is vaccinated for COVID-19 with the exception of one transplant friend from Northern California. I completely understand, and can’t help but wonder what My Wife and I can do to help you reach so many of the “unreachable”. This is “Trump country”… and flags are still flying? Advice? Strategy? Best regards- AL Brown.
I hope you can find researchers who can put a dollar figure on the cost SAVINGS of supporting a struggling third grader, helping them graduate and eventually support a family and PAY taxes. To say the program to help them is too expensive denies the extreme financial and emotional cost to them and to society as a whole. Faculty in rural socioecnomics at OSU should be able to help calculate all that! The modeling is complex but not impossible. I am proud of you for running for governor. (You are brave to run towards the problems!)
These poor people are living wretched lives.
Can people in other states help man the hotlines, like firemen and police come to help places outside their own?
Dr. Jud Brewer at Yale, an addiction psychiatrist, has a breakthrough addiction-stopping program that helps you replace your addiction craving with mindfulness. Nicholas Kristof MUST bring him to Oregon and see if his program can work for people in wretched poverty, homelessness, generational poverty, etc. as well as it does for people with more comfortable lives. (I'm using his "Unwinding Anxiety" program -- which feels like regular sessions with a psychiatrist -- but it's actually an app.) See https://drjud.com.
Sadly, other states are almost as bad off as Oregon. I say this as a mental health and addictions counselor and treatment program developer who has worked in two states, one of them Connecticut in a program allied with Yale. I'm glad Dr. Brewer's program is helping you, but no one approach can do all that is needed to help people live without substances they have become addicted to. The solution, in my opinion, starts with services at all levels and ages, mostly outpatient, to assess needs and help people find solutions to their issues, whatever they may be. No state does this, as far as I know.
Thank you Barbara, I'm glad to hear an expert weigh in. But I still think Dr. Brewer and Nicholas Kristof should sit down for an hour and talk about how Dr. Brewer could help, since his $30 app (and it's much more like a video therapy course then it is an "app" as we think of iti) is much easier to access than a counselor or a government-paid mental health facility. Those two minds might come up with something together that could help a lot of people in Oregon. Thank you also for all the work you have done to help people escape hell and find happiness.
Thank you, Sarah, for your kind words. Sadly, mental health and addiction counseling is far from being as accessible as it should be, as we were promised when state hospitals were closed. There are many good addiction specialists out there, some MDs, some not, who could help devise solutions. Sadly, it won't happen until government is willing to put money into treatment rather than interdiction.
I was shocked that Oregon is the No. 1 state for illicit drug use. Being from Alabama, I immediately thought that infamous title would belong in the South. Thank you for being a reliable source of information.
Mr. Kristoff, you are absolutely right, these things need to be done. Suggestion-don't say or try to do everything at once and don't try to solve the problems with just money. People who care are the solution. Money is necessary to support them, but people are what will solve the problems. Good luck
A hundred thousand thank you's
Thank you for going toward the problems with a view to mitigation.
excellent article
I’m a Portland Liberal who voted to legalize narcotic drugs rather than criminalize them. However, like all citizen initiatives that get passed, there’s an assumption government jurisdictions can find the money to support them. I would like to see a plan that explains specifically the facilities and staff we need to make this work. Then we can determine the best way to provide the system of care we need. Thanks for inspiring these discussions.
P.S. I also know some polarization of voters is a result of the way Portlanders vote, but truly everyone is looking for the best solution.
There’s a comment below about all the poorly administered programs that aren’t monitored and agencies not fulfilling contracts. Nothing works if we don’t provide modern computers and communications systems to public employees. Many agencies rely on schedules to replace equipment piecemeal. Electronic efficiency is needed in every department of government.
I don’t see any discussion of the use of suboxone to help with narcotic addiction. I worked for Bassett Healthcare in upstate NY. They partnered with U of Mass and educated primary care doctors about prescribing suboxone. I was skeptical, but became a proponent as I watched people turn their lives around, and deaths from overdoses drop, especially among young adults.
Thank you Nick for continuing to raise the issues of homelessness, addiction, and unfortunately their criminalization. The cost of dealing with these is much less than than our continued expense both human and monetary. There are stats out there that can make that point. Unfortunately the notion that 'charity' can address these issues is rampant, and leaves only bandaids over a bigger problem. I worked in an amazing homeless shelter system in Maine. Overnight to life housing opportunities, addiction treatment, and mental health treatment. 40 years ago, Maryland put their shelter, mental health, and prison system under one Department, so folks could end up where they needed to be without being criminalized. There are great federal funding opportunities for cities and counties. Yamhill currently is in a continumm of care with 52 other counties in Oregon, preventing them from receiving what they would be eligible for to address homelessness. Resistance to utilizing federal funds keeps Oregon from receiving eligible funding.
Addiction services tied to religious organizations exclude many folks from seeking shelter, and can only rely on charitable contributions. I am thankful you are exploring good, proven programs that can change these terrible statistics.
So sad! And (for me) such a surprise that Oregon would be #1 for drug use... But I just finished reading "Invisible Child" and unfortunately, the same problems happen in a metropolis like New York city, and it is so discouraging that children of addicted, jobless, homeless people have a very hard time getting out of that loop, despite help...
Thank you to the undisclosed writer who clearly understands the "politics" of what is going in Oregon as we pretend to serve the most vulnerable people in our state. Serving our mentally ill and drug addicted citizens is a big business that has been allowed to flourish by our state leaders. I have worked with Oregon state funded mental health and addiction programs for 30 years, so I know that what the undisclosed writer is telling us the truth. Oregon needs to clean house, stop lining the pockets of the facilities that are not doing a good job. Blaming the mentally ill, unhoused, and addicted people for not using the services offered must stop. The service providers, in too many cases, are not following through on their contracts. The communities must be given the resources they need to support their vulnerable citizens and the monitoring of these programs has to be done by a completely separate entity. Clearly, the state cannot monitor its own programs. The federal government has tried to monitor our programs, but Oregon has wiggled out of being held accountable time and time again. The fact that Oregon has the highest drug use in the country is understandable when you know the spotty performances of the programs that we have as well as the corruption. Of course, the coordinated care organizations, NAMI, SEIU and AFSCME oppose an out of state hospital setting up here. If that happened, they would lose their control. If they are all “in bed together” nothing will change. We need new blood, that's why we need Nick Kristof. If elected, Nick will not have an easy time of it, but I think he understands where many of our problems start and he knows that we need a fresh group of people to take care of our most vulnerable citizens.
Thank you so much for continuing to highlight the cascading problems of poverty, homelessness and addiction. Some years ago, I ran an delinquency intervention agency. I placed a number of children, mostly girls, in group homes where they did well, until they came back to the old environment with parents who had not changed. I began a parenting class for those parents that they found helpful. But I could not easily place a 12 year old boy with an apparent mental illness, not even for a thorough evaluation, a child psychiatric unit because there were only about 12 beds in the entire state of SC. I found out much later that a physical illness was causing his behavior. When this was addressed, the behavior went away. If we don't address problems in children, we perpetuate issues when they are adults. We are fools to refuse to spend the money it would take to improve these situations.
After reading this, it should be apparent what the 'authorities' or maybe 'the Science' had done to children: https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/milas-story
I was in favor of legalizing THC but am now not so sure about that.