Buses tests 100% for meth (Second hand crack smoke part 2)

By Taxpayer Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

We recently wrote about Portland employers complaining of employees getting contact highs on the way to work from second-hand crack smoke (Second-hand crack smoke is a problem).

Now is more proof, that it is worse than we thought.

In a study of Portland’s public transit system 100% of the Tri-Met light rail trains tested had methamphetamine in the air and on train surfaces.  Fentanyl and cocaine were also found at a lower rate.

In a letter describing the testing conducted by the University of Washington poison center, Executive Director Dr. Scott Phillips said, “The UW Study highlights the crisis that communities across the Pacific Northwest and the country are facing – an epidemic of opioid and stimulant use.  Our communities must work to address the drivers of substance use and to support and provide help to those with substance use disorders to reach long-term recovery.”

The Portland City Council voted unanimously to ban the use of hard drugs on public property.  While this is a step in the right direction, this vote won’t take care of the problem without a change to state law.  Oregon voters passed Measure 110 in 2020 to decriminalize street drugs, which took away the ability of local governments like Portland to regulate the consumption of drugs.  Right now, Oregonians can’t use weed or alcohol in public, but can do hard drugs in public without any legal consequences. It is no wonder drug use is spiraling out of control in Oregon.

With the confirmed presence of drug residue on Max Trains and Tri-Met busses, tragically incidents of violence on public transit are on the rise.  Just this week two Portland teens were stabbed by a man on the Max Train.

— We also previously wrote, in part satire, about how Portland’s aggressive raccoon attacks may be tied to drugs and could be cocaine raccoons.

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