I am running for the House to raise awareness of addictive disease and it’s impact on every family in Oregon. 9 yrs. ago I lost a son to addiction – a suicide. 1 in 5 pre-adolescents has the disease response to their first experiments with substance abuse. This is where we must impact this epidemic of addictive disease. We must make this culture shift from criminal to medical.

We must begin with the Corrections Division where we provide treatment in 6 of 14 prisons in a population where substance abuse is identified in 75% of the population. Over $80,000 per inmate and we are not treating a treatable cause of criminal behavior. We must begin to offer children and their parents a medical option to this problem. Treatment works and is far less expensive and far more effective than punishment. Measure 11 is not why violent crime rates are less: Salem now has 2 dozen Oxford Houses and counting, 10 yrs ago there was one, these recovery houses are a phenonenon all over the country, supported entirely by the residents – as usual, government will be the last to know. Also, [...]

Statesman Journal – Salem, Or.
6/4/10

Regarding Oregon’s budget crisis, I think this is an opportunity for us to examine what we spend public money on and prioritize.

The Legislature has never done it and will not do it — they fund what wins election; they will hide behind the governor.

I’m running for office to bring some sanity to this epidemic of addiction/alcoholism/criminal behavior. The public/legal response to addiction is half the problem. We offer our kids punishment for addiction. Eighty percent of the inmate population is [...]