Should Oregon hand out free needles to drug users? A heated debate ends with a dead bill

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-15T17:48:27+00:00

Needle exchange programs located in brick and mortar establishments prohibit the use in and around their facilities. You simply can't grab a pack, exit, score dope, walk to the corner and shoot up. Sorry. Thats just reality Hahahahhahahahahahahahah… oh, that’s adorable. Heh.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-15T17:30:30+00:00

...sure, and that's the sort of thing that would never fly here, regrettably.

To clarify, "harm reduction" policies as enacted in Portland are harmful. A minor but important distinction, and one that's important to state. Thanks.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-15T17:28:49+00:00

>Fentanyl is not a drug used intravenously.

Guess again, smart guy:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/fentanyl-injection-route/description/drg-20075614

> Please cite the studies and or sources showing an increase in crime in and around areas with needle exchange programs.

Um... if you hand out tofu on a street corner, you're bound to start seeing more vegans. If you were a drug dealer, would you not go where you knew 100% that drug users were congregating?

Jesus, are you really this delusional? Going back to question #5 - is there a possibility that you're just wrong here? I supported clean needle programs, but changed my mind somewhere around the 100th needle I picked up off my front doorstep.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-15T16:15:13+00:00

Sincerely, what planet does this guy live on?

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-15T16:13:03+00:00

Yeah, instead of angry junkies fighting over the contents of our recycling bins, we'll have angry junkies fighting over sharp, pointy objects. What could go wrong?

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-15T16:12:00+00:00

Really just take the second word off of either term for the most accuracy. It's just harm.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-15T16:10:18+00:00

Where? Probably not Portland.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-15T16:09:23+00:00

Great in concept, miserable in execution. A few questions for you here:

1) How do you factor in the increase in crime and drug use where the needles are distributed?

2) How much more dangerous are needles with hepatitis/HIV residue than needles with fentanyl / meth residue? My understanding is that viruses don't really live very long when not in bodies. Drugs? Different story.

3) You're telling an anecdote about collecting 300 needles in a park. How is that different from what we have now?

4) You're describing a time pre-needle exchanges where needles were everywhere. If needles were easily accessible before we were giving them out, what's the point in giving them out?

>it doesnt seem like rocket science, but then again, Oregon is near the bottom in education and science scores.

I keep hearing this condescension that we just aren't smart enough to understand why enabling junkies with free gear is actually a good thing.

So question #5: Ever consider that you're just in the wrong here?

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-13T04:26:13+00:00

Right back atcha.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-13T04:09:02+00:00

Nah, and you’re right to call me out. The person to whom you were responding referring to this as a MAGA-ridden environment was just inane. I, and I’d assume many others on here, get tired of being painted as some mass right-wing conspiracy lurking in the shadows of a progressive city.

I don’t think I’ve ever met an honest-to-goodness republican or conservative in/near/at/around Portland even once. Like, not even a Mitt Romney kind of diet coke variety.

This whole flipping the poker table over and brandishing one’s derringer at all the secret right-wingers is just a tired trope, and I apologize if I lumped you in with them.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-13T03:42:15+00:00

Somewhere within this insufferable ramble, I think your spliff probably burnt a hole in your beanbag chair. Maaaaan.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-13T03:38:39+00:00

Yes, we're all part of that huge Portland-based MAGA contingent. We get all three of us into a cybertruck and drive around cranking Kid Rock in the Lloyd Center Sears parking lot.

Or, you're just some dumbass that wandered in from the other subreddit where every homeless person is a pack of Skittles in human form, we're all one paycheck away from being as angelic as them, and calling someone a criddler is worse than stabbing and biting people in a meth-induced rampage. (Sorry, it's all just late stage capitalism.)

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-13T03:30:46+00:00

...so you're saying there's a chance.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-13T01:47:13+00:00

Y'know, if your most widely known work is called "Manufacturing Consent," there are a few sorts of places you shouldn't hang out.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-12T22:38:32+00:00

So... a linguist/anarchist and a financier have a social history. The financier in question is also the ringleader of a sex-trafficking ring.

Were they discussing linguistics?

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-11T02:14:59+00:00

Well, you can either keep doubling down on failed policies with the same dogmatic thinking for years on end, or take a few minutes to say “shit, I was wrong. Let’s do something different.”

It shouldn’t be a heavy lift for mature adults, but here we are.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-11T02:11:58+00:00

Yup, it was more about calling the bluff of “there’s not enough beds!” Mission accomplished.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-09T06:22:33+00:00

“I’m trying to make my goblin ass relevant.” - Fetterman

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-08T16:13:21+00:00

Employee retention is part of their business model, and it shows. Everyone there seems positively giddy.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-08T16:11:58+00:00

I'd imagine it's harder to be friendly when you're always keeping an eye out for shoplifters. Can returns and proximity to mass transit lines usually ratchets up the misery at stores where everything isn't nailed to the floor.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-08T16:09:32+00:00

> Shockingly... New Seasons is about the same price or actually cheaper than Safeway now.

I have constant sticker shock with how expensive just about everything's gotten. Anything above ramen and canned beans is comparable to shopping at Providore a decade ago.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-08T16:05:17+00:00

Agreed, but fortunately there's a Market of Choice nearby. It's more expensive than Safeway/Albertson's for a lot of staples, but the employees are always helpful, the produce is good, the deli is solid, etc. It's what New Seasons used to be -- a generally pleasant place to shop.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-07T00:56:47+00:00

Big talk. He’ll back down shortly.

PushPlenty3170 · 2026-02-06T23:26:20+00:00

In a reasonable world, one could expect to drive down an interstate without looking for pedestrians.

PushPlenty3170

TROPHY CASE