Search

Some of the drugs, guns and cash confiscated by law enforcement in Oregon and Western Washington in a single month, April 2023. Drugs, especially fentanyl, are coming into the state in unprecedented quantities. Photos provided from Vancouver Police Department, U.S. Department of Justice, Deschutes County Sheriff's Office and Oregon State Police. | KRISTYNA WENTZ-GRAFF/OPB

‘It’s crazy out there’: The reasons behind Oregon’s deepening drug crisis

Fueled by fentanyl, the number of overdose deaths in Oregon has soared since 2019. And while the surge in overdoses is part of a national problem, the state’s underfunded treatment system is struggling to provide local solutions.

May 30, 2023

Oregon’s public health administrators work in Northeast Portland./Oregon Health Authority via Oregon Capital Chronicle

State Recruits Teens To Spend $1 million In Federal Recovery Funds

The Oregon Health Authority is looking for 20 teenagers to help spend $1 million in COVID recovery funds.

Mar 24, 2022

Oregon State Capitol in Salem. | JAKE THOMAS/THE LUND REPORT

Oregon legislative session’s early end closed curtain on significant health care bills

Bills concerning treatment centers, violence against hospital staff, school health and insurance mandates perished, but other impactful bills made it through

Mar 12, 2024
Premium

This seizure on April 21, 2023 of 100,000 fentanyl pills, 3 kilograms of heroin and 1 kilogram of fentanyl in the La Grande area typifies street drugs in Oregon. | OREGON STATE POLICE

Lawmakers take first deep plunge into proposals to address the drug crisis

Most of the ideas would need funding, and that’s not yet been set

Feb 8, 2024

Oregon House Speaker Tina Kotek. | LYNN HOWLETT PHOTOGRAPHY

Election Results Rife With Implications for Oregonians' Health Care

Democrat Tina Kotek will be Oregon's next governor, her party is losing its supermajorities in Salem, and the ballot measure making health care a fundamental right has won.

Nov 9, 2022
Premium

James Schroeder. | COURTESY OF HEALTH SHARE OF OREGON

Governor-elect Kotek names James Schroeder to head Oregon Health Authority

Schroeder, CEO of the Portland region's Medicaid provider, Health Share of Oregon, has been named interim director of the Medicaid agency.

Dec 13, 2022

Get Involved

NEWS TIPS

Securely submit an anonymous news tip or confidential document.

DONATE

Support our journalism by making a tax-deductible gift.

Menu