Portland Police and Activists Join Forces to Combat Addiction: Introducing Stick and Carrot.

As far as drug abuse is concerned, two opposing sides have teamed up to tackle it in Portland, Oregon. They are the law enforcement individuals and the treatment providers.

Carrot and stick is a phenomenon that combines reward and punishment to induce the desired behavior. With the two sides teaming up with each other, the desired behavior, i.e. quitting drugs by victims is strived for.

The most abused drugs in the United States are marijuana, cocaine, prescription opioids, fentanyl, and methamphetamine.

Opioids are the leading cause of death.

In 2020, Oregon voters approved Measure 110, which essentially decriminalized drugs. In April this year, Oregon repealed Measure 110 and recriminalized drugs after a steady increase in opioid overdose deaths in 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Coordination between the police officers and treatment providers has the potential to rehabilitate the offenders and curb this menace which is destroying the families of those who have found their family members in the web of drug addiction.