I definitely can’t vouch for everything in this column by Nicholas Kristof but I will give him credit for making some admissions against interest, ones that most people on the left are still unwilling to make.
The column is focused on a person named Drew, an adult who started using drugs when he was 12-years-old. Drew has had moments of sobriety as an adult when, for a time, he becomes a different person, but on drugs he became a homeless thief and a drug dealer. Kristof says part of the problem is that the west coast is far too permissive.
As a good liberal, I used to oppose arresting people for using drugs. They need health care, not handcuffs, I thought. But then to my surprise and dismay, I found myself praying that my old pal Drew Goff would be arrested.
Drew, 40, was homeless, using fentanyl and also selling it. His wife, who was with him, was pregnant and had overdosed 27 times, including twice in a single day. It seemed only a matter of time before Drew killed himself or one of his customers. So Drew’s mom and I confided to each other our hope that he would end up in the relative safety of prison and get treatment there…
Drew’s most recent tumble into addiction came in part because of a permissive liberal culture toward drugs on the West Coast. This was meant to be compassionate, but it almost killed him (and has killed many of my other friends). In Portland, a person could be arrested for drinking a beer on the sidewalk but until recently not for smoking fentanyl. Smoking cigarettes in public places was often limited or banned on the West Coast while fentanyl use was tolerated.
Around the time of the pandemic, Drew was clean and was getting all kinds of money from the government with which he bought new furniture, a big TV, etc. At some point he decided to spend some of the cash on drugs and within a year he was homeless and selling fentanyl to feed his own habit. He and his wife also shoplifted on a daily bases from major retailers.
“Me and Sydney probably stole $30,000 or $40,000 worth of stuff from Target, and maybe $20,000 or $30,000 from Lowe’s over a year,” Drew told me. “Shopping carts full of $300 coffee machines and bikes,” which they resold to pawn shops.
Drew said that they carefully chose which stores to steal from, avoiding those like Walmart that they thought would send security guards after thieves. They preferred places like Target where, he said, the policy was not to pursue them.
“It was easy,” Drew said. “We just go in and grab stuff and walk out.”
And because he was in Oregon, drug-addict Drew also benefitted from a change to the law. […]
— Read More: hotair.com
