County Partners With Out-Of-State Provider for Deflection Center

By Jake Lubin

With the rise of Fentanyl and other highly lethal drugs, the drug addiction crisis has become increasingly dangerous. For decades, and at every level of government, policy makers have struggled to match the unique challenges posed by the overflow of drugs within communities. This year however, Oregon is shifting its focus to expediting the recovery process, starting with opening a deflection center.
Set to open on September 1 at 900 SE Sandy Blvd., a one of a kind addiction deflection center will be open for law enforcement to use to deflect citizens struggling with drug addiction toward recovery. The new center will operates as a mediator between law enforcement, citizens struggling with drug addiction and the path to recovery. The center won’t house individuals struggling with drug addiction; rather, it will act as an intermediary designed to connect them with professionals ready to begin the recovery process.
Multnomah County is partnering with Tuerk House, a private drug and alcohol addiction rehabilitation center with multiple locations throughout the Baltimore, MD area. The company is going to help the county run the center. Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson believes in the nearly 50 years of experience that the Tuerk House brings, despite them being located across the country. “Tuerk House knows how to do this and will bring decades of experience to this effort,” she said in a press release on July 23.
The opening of the deflection center signifies a greater shift in how Oregon as a whole, and specifically Portland, is changing the way it approaches drugs and drug addiction. Passed earlier in 2024, and starting on September 1, House Bill 4002 will recriminalize small amounts of illicit drugs like opioids, but with many provisions unseen in drug laws before. The consequences of carrying these drugs are supposed to result in rehabilitation and recovery through the new deflection center. Instead of prison, they aim at targeting the root of addiction, not punishing the effects of it with jail time.
This is a new and unique approach to battling the addiction crisis, and will hopefully yield results. “This new 24-hour drop-off center will be a gamechanger for Multnomah County in providing pathways to treatment and services,” noted District Attorney Mike Schmidt, in a press release on June 27. “At the same time, law enforcement will have the tools they need for interdicting the unlawful possession of controlled substances and offering an alternative to jail for individuals struggling with addiction.”
The county is hoping to expand such a service in the coming years. They are already in talks with Tuerk House to begin offering a sobering center in 2025, where actual treatment would be conducted, solidifying into a permanent location in 2026.
Drug addiction is a complicated issue, with many different proposed solutions. Multnomah County is now shifting it’s strategy for combating the addiction crisis to an emphasis on rehabilitation rather than punishment, a strategy intended to balance the use of law enforcement with professional help and rehabilitation.

County Partners With Out-Of-State Provider for Deflection Center

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