PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) — Multnomah County has made a permanent emergency declaration regarding the regional fentanyl crisis just days after a tri-governmental declaration was announced by Governor Tina Kotek earlier this week.
While Kotek’s emergency declaration unified the state of Oregon, Multnomah County, and the City of Portland to come up with solutions in the next 90 days, this new declaration by the county doesn’t have a limited scope in terms of time frame. However, the county’s declaration was unclear on how it will streamline vital resources like access to addiction services for those in need.
What is clear is that County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson envisions this new declaration to better coordinate county, city, and state efforts, even as the county specifically knows where the gaps for services are.
Man accused of burning down home said voices told him the place ‘contained vampires’
Kotek’s declaration from earlier this week created a unified command led by her, Vega Pederson, and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, in which the issue of fentanyl could be addressed at each government level. However, commissioners and service providers say it will take more drastic action than what has been outlined so far to reverse — or at least flatten — the growing number of people who have died from overdoses, especially from opioids like fentanyl.