AHS Views

Meth and meth addiction is Oregon’s number one crime problem according to candidate John Kroger. John Kroger is running for Attorney General for the State of Oregon and if elected he will help get more people into drug treatment. “Évery year meth costs us hundreds of millions of dollars in prison and law enforcement costs, health care expenditures, and lost workforce productivity.” He wants to see people get the addiction help they need.

Mr. Kroger understands that treatment can save tax payers plenty of money, “for every dollar we invest in treatment, we will save nearly six dollars by bringing down the crime and incarceration rates.”

His plan to send more people to drug treatment makes more sense then sending people to prison. Currently Oregon ranks 45th in the nation for addiction help overall and 49th for treatment in young adults ages 18 to 25. He will need to find a successful treatment program to help the meth users in Oregon, and he will need more treatment centers.

The number of small meth labs in Oregon has decreased since 2005 when the Governor put laws in place to limit the supplies that methamphetamine manufacturers needed to produce this deadly drug. But like other parts of the country, large drug trading organizations filled that hole by importing drugs from Mexico. Mr. Kroger wants to take on the drug cartel head on. We hope he is successful, we see the devastation meth and other drugs bring to society everyday.

If his plan works, Mr. Kroger will cut the supply and force more people into treatment instead of sentencing the addicts to long stints of incarceration which, in the long run, doesn’t usually result in them getting the addiction help they need. Instead, they often wind up back on drugs, and back in prison.

Addiction Help Services can help you, a family member or friend if you are having trouble with meth or any drug if you live in Oregon.