Oregon Public Broadcasting

Measure 97 Opposition Reports Raising $17.5M In Contributions

Opponents of the Measure 97 corporate tax proposal report raising $17.5 million in campaign contributions. Supporters, meanwhile, now say they have raised more than $7 million.

In both cases, the totals took a big jump up as the Nov. 8 elections nears. That's because of a tighter deadline for reporting contributions that took effect at the end of Tuesday.  Campaigns now have to report their contributions and expenditures within seven days instead of having a month to do so.

The opposition campaign revealed another $6 million in contributions from a long list of business interests.  Major retailers like Costco, Albertson's/Safeway and Fred Meyer's parent company, Kroger, have each given $900,000. Other major contributors include Chevron, Comcast, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Citigroup.

The Yes on 97 campaign is financed almost exclusively by unions, particularly those representing public employees. The biggest contributor is the country's largest teacher's union. The Oregon Education Association and its national parent have together given about $3.8 million.  The totals include another committee, Defend Oregon, which has also helped finance the measure.

The stakes are high for the ballot measure.  It would impose a 2.5 percent tax on sales for corporations doing more than $25 million a year of business in Oregon. 

Supporters say the $3 billion-a-year tax would force large corporations to pay a larger share of the tax burden in Oregon while providing needed revenue for schools, healthcare and senior services.  Critics say the measure will hurt the economy and that much of the tax will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices.

News source: 
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Original site: 
http://www.opb.org/

Oregon Poll: Clinton Gains Big Lead Over Trump; Measure 97 Opposition Grows

A new poll by a Portland research firm suggests that voter sentiment in Oregon is moving strongly in favor of Democrat Hillary Clinton and turning toward opposition to the Measure 97 corporate tax initiative.

The Sept. 29-Oct. 1 telephone survey of 605 likely voters was conducted by Hoffman Research. The firm's chief executive officer, Tim Nashif, is also a Republican activist. But he says the poll was conducted independently and was not influenced by his own political views.

The poll found that Clinton is supported by 45 percent of voters, to 33 percent for Republican Donald Trump.  Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson is backed by 8 percent and Jill Stein is supported by 3 percent. 

Another 11 percent of voters are undecided.  More than half of those undecided voters said they couldn't choose one of those candidates even if they absolutely had to vote for one.

Clinton's lead in Oregon is driven by stronger levels of support among Democrats than Trump receives from Republicans and by higher support among those who aren't registered with either major party.

Support for Johnson and Stein is strongest among voters between age 18 and 34.  Of voters in that age group, 17 percent back Johnson and 15 percent support Stein.

Nashif said he thought Clinton's strong debate performance on Sept. 26 helped to cement her lead in Oregon.  "Since that debate, the numbers around the nation have improved for Hillary," he said.

Democrats have won every presidential election in Oregon since 1988, so it's no surprise that Clinton is leading, he added.

Previous polls taken for Measure 97 have shown a lead among Oregon voters.  It would hike taxes on corporations in the state with annual sales of more than $25 million. Nashif says forcing large corporations to pay more is an appealing concept, particularly since money is supposed to be directed toward schools, health care and senior services.

But the Hoffman Research poll finds that 47 percent of voters are opposed to the tax measure and 41 percent are in favor. 

The poll comes days after the corporate-funded opposition to Measure 97 launched an expensive TV ad campaign portraying it as a hidden sales tax that would affect average Oregonians.

"It almost comes across as a sales tax," said Nashif, "and as you know, Oregonians don't like sales taxes."

Opposition is particularly high among Republicans and a plurality of independent voters are also opposed.  Older voters are also much more likely to be opposed.

The margin of error for the survey is 4 percentage points, plus or minus.

News source: 
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Original site: 
http://www.opb.org/

Oregon Lawmakers Unveil New Way To Dispose Of Unwanted Drugs

Oregon lawmakers announced a new initiative Monday to make it easier to dispose of unused prescriptions.

Almost two people overdose on prescription pain medications every day in Oregon.  For the nation as a whole, it’s 76 people each day.

Experts say most of those drugs come straight out of medicine cabinets, where they’ve either been left because the patient got better or because a prescription was changed.

Law enforcement offices have long accepted old medications, but Oregon State Senator Laurie Monnes Anderson, said this is different.

“The police stations are not necessarily convenient and people don’t know about it," she said.

"But with Walgreens, this is where they get their prescriptions and it’ll be so much easier for them to drop it off," said Monnes Anderson.

Walgreens is putting drug disposal kiosks in six of its 80 Oregon stores.

Congress passed a bill earlier this summer aimed at reducing overdoses. But no money was included. Ranking finance committee member, Senator Ron Wyden said he hopes to find money for the program this fall.

News source: 
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Original site: 
http://www.opb.org/

Oregon Unveils Plan To Help Mentally Ill, Under Pressure From Feds

For the last few years, the U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating Oregon’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

At least in part because of confrontations between law enforcement and people with mental illnesses.

Now Lynne Saxton with the Oregon Health Authority said her agency has come up with an extensive plan. “We have a great team put together," she said. 

"We’ll be using some national experts in behavioral health in this work and I think we have a real opportunity to make solid progress every year.”

The plan will roll out over three-years and health care providers will be required to meet specific performance goals.  They include: treating physical and mental health together; expanding community-based mental health services; and reducing commitments to the state hospital.

If the state backs off the effort, the DOJ said it will then restart its investigation.

News source: 
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Original site: 
http://www.opb.org/

Researchers Spend $21M To Study Opioid Alternatives

To cut down on opioid abuse, patients are being told to try acupuncture, massage and other treatments for pain. But the science behind some of these alternatives is lacking.

A group of scientists is about to spend $21 million dollars to change that.

‘The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute’ is conducting two main studies.

One compares counseling and meditation to alleviate back pain.

The second will split injured veterans into two groups. Institute spokeswoman Christine Stencel said both groups will receive medications for pain, but the second group will also be encouraged to use non-drug alternatives.

“The patients and the people who’re caring for them need to have information about all the different available options, so that they can really weigh those options and they can decide what really does work best,” she said.

The institute gets its funding largely from a small fee on health plans, as part of the Affordable Care Act.

News source: 
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Original site: 
http://www.opb.org/

Oregonian Turns To Heroin For Pain Relief After Opioid Prescription Cut

John is a carpenter, OPB is only using his first name for reasons that’ll become clear in this story.

John grew up in southern Oregon and for 20 years had a successful business installing kitchens. Then, in 2005, he was in a car crash. “I mean, fractured my neck, fractured my back. I had to have my right shoulder replaced," he said.

John was prescribed opioids to deal with the pain.

“After about four years I was on 160 milligrams of oxycontin … and then it was 56 milligrams of oxycodone and that went on for maybe four years.”

Today, he’s a mess. He lives in his pick-up truck and is in constant pain.

Without pain killers he said, he misses work. Which is why he was alarmed recently when his doctor — following new state guidelines — started reducing his dosage.

“The first thing he did was cut me back by a full one-third," he said. "It became an argument with him. Two months later, he cuts me back by another full third," he said.

John concedes he was using too many opioids — but points out it was all legal and under a doctor’s supervision. He said tapering off the drugs left him with terrible pain in his neck and back.

“Your body becomes so jittery and moving around. And just, I mean there’s no place of comfort," he said. "I mean it’s torture.”

John said he stuck with the low doses for seven weeks, then decided to visit Old Town Portland to buy heroin.

 He was incarcerated for cocaine use in the 1980s, which is how he knew where to go for illegal drugs. He said he turned to heroin because he had to have something to deal with his chronic pain.

He didn’t want to inject it, so his solution was to cook the heroin in tin-foil with a lighter — like he’d seen others do — then inhale the fumes.

“But most of the drug just goes up in smoke. So the next time I went to this dealer, I said, ‘Well, how do you do it?’ And he said, ‘Well, I snort it.’ And I said, ‘Well this is black tar, how do you snort it?’ And he said, ‘Oh! You cook it and you put it in a needle except you take the needle off and you shoot it up your nose and snort it,'" explained John. John said he understands the need to crack down on opioids. He knows more than 28,000 Americans overdose and die abusing the drugs every year. But, he said, acupuncture and physical therapy just don’t give him much relief.

“It’s a really upsetting story and one thing that’s so upsetting about it is that it’s actually quite common,” said Dr. Eve Klein, a neurologist working on pain management. She said when somebody’s been on opioids so long, tapering often doesn’t work. She hasn’t met John but thinks he should probably go to a methadone clinic.

“And then once he’s on something like methadone and he’s stable and he’s out of that rat race of needing heroin every six hours. Then he can start looking into things like, 'OK, what am I going to do about pain management now?,'” she said.

Congress just passed a bill to reduce opioid addiction. Democratic Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden voted for it, but said it’s only a ‘half measure.’ He’s said more legal options for dealing with pain are needed, “If all you do is restrict choices to medication, the addiction does not vanish magically. You’ve got to have prevention and treatment.”

Meanwhile, John lives in his truck and seeks relief where he can. He’s terrified of the traffic stop that could land him in jail.

News source: 
Oregon Public Broadcasting
Original site: 
http://www.opb.org/

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