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I called in this morning and was very grateful to have an opportunity to talk about some of what I wanted to say. I have additional comments.

I campaigned for measure 57 because of the 40 million dollars targeted for drug and alcohol services and to defeat measure 61. It seemed the only way to beat back that bad legislation. I would be happy to see both of them go away.

If we are unable to implement part of measure 57, i.e. the treatment end of it, we are not doing what the voters asked for, why implement just the incarceration part of that bill? 

I know the importance of drug and alcohol treatment, I became addicted to pain medication after a back injury that led to street drugs, crime, jail and prison.

I was unable to quit using on my own, I kept getting arrested for violationing the of the conditions of my probation which ended in a prison sentence.

My life changed with the tools I received in community based treatment, today I am a good community member, a good mother, grandmother, I have a job where my felony conviction allows my experience to benefit others – I vote and I pay taxes.

Because of the community based treatment I received, and my previous incarceration, I know incarceration is not the best way to treat addiction and addiction driven crimes.

I disagree with the former DA from Lane County; we have been trying to incarcerate our way out of this problem for years. IT doesn’t work. Building new prisons DOES NOT work.

The proposal the DAs came up with is a band-aid not a solution, if the folks he is talking about had been able to “earn” their way out of prison and prepare for their re-entry we would be setting them up to succeed. If we let folks out, without re-entry support, how does that set people up for success? 

The city manager from Junction City was interested in economic advantages to his community at the cost of human-toll—that does not bide well with me – I think that to build a prison for economical growth at the cost of one living human being is not a smart way to think about healing as a community.

This year’s National Recovery Month mantra is “Together we learn, Together we heal.” We need to take what we have learned over the years and begin to heal as a community and as a nation.

posted 4 years ago
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