What the hell is wrong with Portland

Excellent points. To draw a parallel, when MA legalized marijuana my friend said "oh great people are gonna be driving stoned". I replied "do you really think if someone is going to do that, they didn't before it was legal?"

Re opioid in particular, that is sometimes what I call the "hidden addiction". Specifically, so many people got addicted that rarely if ever partook of mind altering things prior. Yet they say weed and booze are gateways for it all..

 

did they cut through the shield or unbolt it
or did they do the cut on the front and use another vehicle to yank it out the back

 

You're completely right on that, you don't see it until things start going missing. We have a mine in rural Tennessee that happens to have an active 3000 acre wheat farm on top. We actually employ farmers to manage it (man I work for a fun company). They said that they have to post security guards with every fertilizer delivery, because that's the favorite target for the "Percocet possums." Anything ammonia or hydrocarbon based is stolen for the local meth cooks. Any outbuilding that isn't in active use (visited at least once per week) has to be knocked down, as they break in and set up residence, and of course pawn any equipment that was stored there.

 

The current opioid epidemic as we know it was largely driven by public policy ~15 years ago when public health officials, in tandem with big pharma, proclamed the under treatment of pain as a public health crisis, and instituted "pain" as a "vital sign"... Of note the experience of pain is subjective, ALL other legitimate vital signs can be measured objectively...
As with all things related to substance abuse, this subject is very complex, with MANY hidden nuances...

 

Interesting observations. I knew about initial regulatory failure by accepting fraudulent data, but didn’t know about what you just described.

 

I dunno, growing up mental health issues were institutionalized. Once this was abandoned it seemed like things quickly got worse. People with no one advocating for their well being were left to their own devices to self medicate becoming a major drain on recourses out on the streets.

 

To a point, though I suspect they always were there and it was just so taboo to discuss them (especially for boys/men).

 

I watched San Francisco deteriorate over a period of years. I remember thieves breaking into my car to steal my very old gym shoes. That city has always had vagrancy and crime, but it’s another level now. There are multiple factors for the decline, but I suspect increased drug use is the major factor.

I got out just before COVID became a thing and couldn’t be happier to be away. Stay out of the dense urban areas of America. They’re no longer worth your time.

 

Say the reason why and you'll get banned, TW mods don't play around.

 

It’s the Pacific Ocean

 

simplest of answer to what is wrong with Portland... Dirty hippies, oh and Meth

well, we havea city government that constantly lets us all down, rampant crime because we don't want to allow local police to do their jobs because who wants to deal with that mess

 

Lack of meaningful consequence? Oh the irony.