Drug counselor Kevin Dahlgren blasts Multnomah County's initiative to supply addicts: Plan is to 'let them all die'
Drug counselor Kevin Dahlgren and Bison Coffeehouse owner Loretta Guzman break down the effects of Portland's idea to give smoking supplies to drug addicts.
Portland is making it easier for fentanyl addicts to get their fix by distributing aluminum foil, straws and pipes to smokers, all while the area continues to grapple with raging drug and homelessness epidemics.
Drug counselor Kevin Dahlgren, horrified by the move, told "Fox & Friends First" Monday that officials lack solutions to tackle the growing number of crises, including the drug problem that's leaving many members of the community outraged.
"This is now their plan is let's just let them all die," he said. "I mean, this is just shocking. This is the deadliest drug in history, and now we're giving them the means to kill themselves faster in these harm reduction clinics."
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Shyan Willow, 27, smokes fentanyl through a glass pipe along East Hastings Street in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) neighborhood on Tuesday, May 3, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The health department handouts are part of the county's harm reduction efforts, a strategy that provides drug users with education and supplies like clean needles, pipes and overdose-reversing naloxone.
"The new part of the program is that we’re adding supplies for people who smoke drugs," Multnomah County public health director Jessica Guernsey told KOIN 6. "We’ve seen a shift from injection drug use to smoking drug use, so that we can engage people who may not otherwise engage in services."
Fentanyl is generally smoked rather than injected, so visits to county clinics have dropped more than 60% since 2019, county spokesperson Sarah Dean told Willamette Week, which broke the story.
"Several decades of research have also shown that providing supplies for safer drug use does not increase illegal drug use," Dean said.
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A homeless man, 24, smokes fentanyl on March 12, 2022, in Seattle. (John Moore/Getty Images)
Dahlgren, however, slammed the local health department, accusing it of being inhumane by helping exacerbate an already overwhelming crisis.
"That's their justification for doing this, is that we'll have more interaction and contact with them," he said. "But the fact is, they don't offer services. They just encourage the use. It's just completely inhumane."
Portland's Democrat mayor appears to agree, calling out the county for "actively enabling" the deadly fentanyl epidemic with the move.
"This misguided approach also results in greater risk to public safety for those who simply want to enjoy our city without walking through a cloud of toxic smoke," Mayor Ted Wheeler said in a statement.
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Loretta Guzman, owner of Bison Coffeehouse in Portland, is among the many residents who say the drug problem has gotten out of control.
She recently captured video of herself forcing two drug users to leave her property. Speaking to "Fox & Friends First," she blasted local officials for refusing to listen to their constituents' concerns.
"They've [officials] made it very easy on them [drug addicts] and it's harder on us as business owners who are having to deal with them every day or every week," she said.
"I don't know personally why they're not listening," she continued later. "It's like they condone this type of behavior and want it for us, and it's like they're just totally destroying our city. They're destroying many, many businesses. It's really horrible to see some of the businesses that are just like all across the street is there's like tons of people just out there just smoking straight fentanyl. Everywhere you go, they're just smoking it."
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Angela Todd, another disgruntled Portland resident, echoed the concerns Monday on "Fox & Friends," calling it "horrifying" and saying residents' options are to either stay and fight the government or leave.
"It's inadequate, it's inhumane, and it's unacceptable," she said of the newly-unveiled plan, arguing that the county officials need to engage in daily outreach while offering proper detox facilities.
"It's outside my doors. I mean, people are all over our city are suffering, not just the people that are addicted to drugs, but also businesses, families, children. We've had a lot of people move away. It's hard not to get involved. You have to either stay and fight the government or move, frankly."
Multnomah County has since put the plan on pause, according to KGW 8 news, as County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said it needed "further analysis."
Fox News' Hannah Ray Lambert contributed to this report.
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