We share and feel the anger and hurt caused by this crisis and understand the urgency to do something. Anything.

However, we have to avoid resurrecting the war on drugs and other failed policies from the past. What we truly need are effective solutions based on research and real-world experience.

Chances are many readers have already encountered the chilling reach of the fentanyl crisis in headlines or witnessed its devastating consequences first-hand. But to truly understand how we got here, we need to take a closer look at the history of opioids in America.

Portland is often labeled as a cautionary tale of "woke/progressive" policies gone awry in the eyes of national and international media and political spheres. It seems we can’t make it more than a week without being inundated with think pieces on how to “save Portland.”

If we want to make real change, then we need to educate ourselves and our community about the real root causes of homelessness and poverty. We need to undo the harmful narratives about our unhoused neighbors that are fueling the policies that we’re seeing now.