SALEM, Ore. — Dozens of people gathered in Salem at the capital on Thursday, asking for more addiction services.
Oregon Recovers organized the rally. Some in attendance held posters or wore t-shirts, but nearly all carried the weight of their own addiction story, such as Kaiyah Sample.
“The day I got out I overdosed, I was in downtown Portland,” said Sample about the day she was released from jail. “It was a really scary feeling.”
After struggling with an addiction to heroin and fentanyl for over seven years, Sample believes this year is going to be different.
“My clean date is Dec. 12, 2023,” she said. “It really feels great. It’s the longest I’ve been clean since I was like 15.”
Sample knows the battle isn’t over; she still needs medication and professional help. But she hasn’t been able to find any programs with openings in the area.
“I’ve been waiting for intensive outpatient,” Sample explained. “I’ve been waiting for like seven weeks; it’s hard.”
Pam Connelly also knows what it’s like to wait. A member of Oregon Moms for Addiction Recovery, she began learning about the treatment and support options when her son was in addiction.
When her son was ready for help, she said none was available.
“I called three different recovery places every single morning at 8 o’clock in the morning for a month straight — and every day, they said, 'Call back tomorrow,'” Connelly recalled.
Connelly said she helped her son detox at home, and she’s proud to say her son is still sober.
But she knows not everyone is so fortunate: A long-time friend of hers recently lost her son to an overdose this winter.
“Her son, Kenny, died two days before Christmas in her home because he had relapsed and he was trying to get back into recovery and they put him on a two-week waiting list and two weeks was too long,” Connelly said.
Oregon Recovers — a group that lists OHA, Kaiser Permanente, CareOregon and Washington County as sponsors on their website — is specifically asking the legislature for 3,000 more treatment and detox beds and increased access to medication assisted treatment.
They also support House Bill 4093, which would require one Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) commissioner to have a background in public health.
But the group did not take a stance on the ever-controversial Measure 110, saying that they’re divided on whether the state should recriminalize drugs.
Sample agreed, saying, “I’m kind of in the middle on that one.”
Measure 110 is poised to change during this legislative session with three new bills in the works, proposed by both Democrats and Republicans.