Kevin Dahlgren

Portland’s decriminalisation nightmare

In November 2020, Oregon passed Measure 110, decriminalising non-commercial drug possession. The state also significantly increased funding for recovery and harm reduction programmes. It sounded like a great plan to voters, so it passed with 60 per cent approval. The deadliest, most addictive drug in history was introduced to a vulnerable population just as the

Red Rishi

39 min listen

On this week’s episode: Price caps are back in the news as the government is reportedly considering implementing one on basic food items. What happened to the Rishi Sunak who admired Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson? In her cover article this week, our economics editor Kate Andrews argues that the prime minister and his party

Fentanyl is being laced to become even more deadly

In February on a snowy Wednesday, I met a homeless man named David standing outside a Safeway panhandling for money. He was wearing a white hoodie with the words ‘Portland State University’ printed on it and holding two empty beer cans and a remote control. I asked him what it’s like to be homeless in

Fentanyl is wreaking havoc in America

I stepped through a hole in the chainlink fence surrounding Portland’s O’Bryant Square and saw four people nodded out and three smoking fentanyl. The man who had supplied them was standing nearby; he gave me a nod and continued with his business. Fentanyl is fifty times stronger than heroin and ruthlessly addictive Built in 1973,