Several Weeks Into Fentanyl Emergency, What’s Changed?

What’s really changed, since January 30th, when the leaders of Oregon, Multnomah County and Portland announced a 90 day fentanyl emergency?   

Abbey Stamp is Multnomah County’s policy leader for the fentanyl emergency, she says:  “The process I believe is right where it needs to be. Unified Command, the incident commanders are a team. They are a solid three legged stool partnership with the city and the county and the state.”

But Multnomah County Commissioner Sharon Meieran pushed back.  “I honestly don’t need to hear anything more about your processes. I honestly think that is not time we need to spend. But I care about results. And I think the public cares about results. And there are none that we’ve seen. There are none that we’ve heard about. And we certainly haven’t seen anything change since the Declaration of Emergency.”

County Commissioner Julia Brimm Edwards also worries.  “We’re not going to have our next public briefing for another two weeks, which will be day 30 of the fentanyl crisis so my concern is that while there’s discussion, there’s a lot of activity happening it doesn’t feel like an emergency.”

Commissioner Meieran proposed changes to the state of emergency, like a clear set of goals and a 12-month fentanyl crisis plan to reduce deaths and overdoses, but the commissioners voted against those changes, 3-2.