The 90-day state of emergency order issued by Gov. Kotek and Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson and Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler will “commit available resources to the unified response.”
A command center will be set up in Portland where state, county, and city employees will convene to coordinate strategies and response efforts, a joint
statement
reads.
“Our country and our state have never seen a drug this deadly and addictive, and all are grappling with how to respond,” Kotek said before saying her administration will take “unprecedented” action:
The Chair, the Mayor and I recognize the need to act with urgency and unity across our public health and community safety systems to make a dent in this crisis. We are all in this together. The next 90 days will yield unprecedented collaboration and focused resources targeting fentanyl and provide a roadmap for next steps.
Wheeler’s statement highlighted the need to make a “direct impact and a lasting difference”:
I am pleased to have Governor Kotek and Chair Vega Pederson join the City of Portland’s ongoing efforts to address the deadly fentanyl crisis impacting our community. Today, we move forward with urgency to address these challenges together under the authority of emergency declarations. This is exactly the type of coordinated action needed to make a direct impact and a lasting difference.
The joint statement went on to say that a combination of services, including “peer outreach” and “behavioral and public health,” will be used to provide fentanyl addicts with treatment and “other stabilization services.”
Kotek’s office also said that the Portland Police Bureau will collaborate with Oregon State Police to “hold individuals selling the drug accountable.”