In a controversial move, health officials will begin distributing tin foil, straws and snorting kits to drug users throughout Portland this month, officials said.
The Multnomah County Health Department announced Friday that it will offer the drug paraphernalia for those using fentanyl and other hard drugs, and offer other services to addicts as part of its “Harm Reduction Program,” KOIN 6 reported.
Department spokeswoman Sarah Dean told the news outlet that a spike in Portland’s fentanyl use decreased the demand for needle-focused “harm reduction” services. Because fentanyl is typically smoked rather than injected, she said visits to clinics have dropped 60% since 2019.
“The new part of the program is that we’re adding supplies for people who smoke drugs,” added Jessica Guernsey, Multnomah County’s public health director. “We’ve seen a shift from injection drug use to smoking drug use, so that we can engage people who may not otherwise engage in services.”
However, the move has some pols fuming in the lefty city.
The new Multnomah County Health Department that offers drug paraphernalia to addicts is opposed by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler.KOINThe Oregon Legislature recently passed a bill to decriminalize the distribution of drug paraphernalia, which still needs Gov. Tina Kotek’s signature before going into law.KOIN
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, a Democrat, said he “adamantly” opposes the decision to distribute the drug paraphernalia.
“This misguided approach also results in greater risk to public safety for those who simply want to enjoy our city without walking through a cloud of toxic smoke,” Wheeler said. “Our community would benefit more from the county using its funding to urgently increase and sobering facilities rather than actively enabling this deadly epidemic.”
Dean insisted that providing access to drug paraphernalia does not increase illegal drug use, but rather encourages junkies to visit clinics, which offer fentanyl test strips and Narcan, an overdose antidote.
The new “harm reduction” program for Portland is aimed at helping solve the progressive city’s fentanyl epidemic.KOIN
“Building relationships with people actively using substances also gives our department more insight into emerging public health issues that impact this population,” she said. “We are able to directly hear from our clients when there are concerning changes to the drug supply, increased wound issues, or other related issues that are of public health concern.”
The Oregon Legislature recently passed a bill to decriminalize the distribution of drug paraphernalia, Dean noted. The legislation awaits Gov. Tina Kotek’s signature before going into law.
At age 13, Ash Eskridge was severely under the influence, but not of drugs or alcohol — of TikTok.
The brunette told The Post that trendsetters on the popular app wrongfully convinced her that she was transgender.
“I saw TikTok videos by influencers saying how that transitioning saved their life,” said Eskridge, now 16, from Missoula, Montana.
After becoming depressed at 12, she leaned on the virtual platform as an emotional crutch.
“I was struggling and wanted it to save my life, too,” she told South West News Service.
It was just after the pandemic that the Gen Zer joined the crowd: As part of what’s been dubbed “Generation COVID,” Ash spent the majority of her recreational hours scrolling through social media, where viral hashtags such as #transgender and #trans have amassed a staggering 21.5 billion and 59.6 billion views, respectively.
According to 2022 Pew Research Center research, TikTok has a massive impact on up to 67% of teens 13 to 17. A 2021 study on its sway, conducted by the Shanghai United International School in China, found that the digital space contains “over-exaggeration content that shapes teenager’s value in a misleading way.”
In Eskridge’s case, she said the videos on her timeline “brainwashed” her into transitioning.
“Being transgender is definitely a TikTok trend that all began around 2020,” she told The Post of the apparent social media wave. “I notice that the demographic it most affects is teen girls around 12 to 14, as they’re the most vulnerable since they aren’t matured yet,” she continued, noting that most trans folks in her age demographic would likely disagree.
Eskridge told The Post that she believes only “1%” of trans-identifying teens on TikTok are actually transgender.Darcy Eskridge / SWNS“I know that all of the kids who are also being pushed to [take part in the transgender] trend definitely think they’re 100% right and that it wasn’t caused by TikTok, because that’s how I felt, too,” Eskridge acknowledged.
“But I’d say maybe 1% of the trans teens on TikTok are actually trans,” she claimed without evidence. “The rest, influenced.”
Her parents, Sean and Darcy, told SWNS that they were doubtful that Eskridge — a lifelong “girly-girl” — was, in fact, transgender. However, they supported her decision to live as a male.
“She told us she was trans. It was after COVID, and she was at home a lot,” said Darcy, a secretary. “She started spending too much time on TikTok, watching influencers who were saying how they went through the same thing [and] how they had transitioned and it made them happy.
“We questioned Ash and pushed back,” the mother continued. “We told her we would accept her for who she is but how we didn’t feel this was the right path for her.”
Darcy (right) told SWNS that she and her husband were happy to back Eskridge’s decision to transition, even though they didn’t think it was the best fit for her.Darcy Eskridge / SWNS And while Eskridge understood her parents’ concerns, she elected to proceed with the gender swap.
“My family [was] very confused,” said the youth.
“My life had been really girly and I never showed any dislike of being a girl,” Eskridge admitted. “They were very supportive of me, but they never thought it was right for me, but they stood by me regardless.”
She legally changed her name to “Greysen” and assumed the stereotypical look of a teenage boy — rocking a short haircut and wearing sporty togs.
At 16, she began taking testosterone, which caused her voice to become lower and body hair to sprout.
But rather than feeling affirmed, Eskridge says the drastic changes felt “unnatural.”
“My voice dropping didn’t feel correct,” she lamented. “When the voice started dropping, it made me feel uncomfortable, and the body hair felt really gross.”
In fact, while living as “Greysen,” Eskridge said she “missed being a girl.”
“It was exhausting,” revealed the teen, “the people who I knew in real life didn’t know I wasn’t born a man.”
Eskridge became “Greysen” and began walking, talking and dressing like a man.Darcy Eskridge / SWNS
“I had to adjust the way I walked and talked in a way that wasn’t natural to me,” she said. “I didn’t tell anyone that I was born a girl as I supposed I was ashamed and embarrassed of it.”
But a nighttime epiphany prompted a change of heart.
“My breaking point was when I had a dream that I was a girl,” she remembered. “I thought, ‘I can’t do this anymore.'”
In April 2023, Eskridge chose to detransition, reverting to female with the support of her parents.
Eskridge eventually told her mother and father that she felt “unnatural” in her transition.Darcy Eskridge / SWNS
“She came to us and said how she made a mistake,” said Darcy. “She told us how easily influenced she was by social media.
“There was a lot of shock from us but also a sense of relief as we never thought it would be the best path in life for her,” added the mom.
But reversing her gender identity proved to be a “tough road,” which derailed a number of her close relationships.
“They thought I was born a man,” Eskridge said of her pals. “After I detransitioned, I lost a lot of friends.”
The number of children who report experiencing “gender dysphoria” in the West has surged. While statistics are difficult to track, between 2009 and 2019, UK children being referred for transitioning treatment increased by 1,000% among those assigned a male gender at birth and 4,400% among those assigned female.
Meanwhile, according to 2022 research from the University of California’s Williams Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of young people identifying as transgender in the US has almost doubled since 2017, to approximately 300,000.
According to a Fenway Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital study, about 13% of people who underwent “gender-affirming transition” said that they at some point detransitioned. A large number of those — 82.5% — cited external factors such as family pressure or having trouble finding a job as the reasons they detransitioned.
The research also reported that only 2.4% of the 17,151 trans people who were questioned had detransitioned due to “doubt” about their gender identity, and another 2018 survey listed reasons including hormone complications, unresolved psychological issues and discrimination, plus realizing their struggle pertained to sexual orientation as opposed to gender.
Since resuming her life as a woman, Eskridge and Darcy have begun advocating for better mental health care for teens and demanding the law require an age limit of 18 to get gender-affirming care.
“Through her journey, [Ash] has come to realize the dangers of having chemical or surgical intervention as an adolescent,” her parents said in a statement to The Post.
Eskridge has also become a detransitioning crusader on TikTok.
In a confessional with more than 2.2 million views, she said, “After about two years of living as a male, I realized I was wrong.”
The teen explained that after coming out as trans, she only went to one doctor’s appointment — during which she claims her mental health was not properly assessed — before being given instructions on the next steps toward becoming a man.
But the ill-fated journey led her down a dark path of drug use, self-harm and suicidal ideation, according to her post.
“I assumed this was because I wasn’t male enough,” said Eskridge, “but it was really because I wasn’t a male at all.”
She captioned the clip: “I support transgender people, I was simply was wrong about myself.”
Britain’s biggest teaching union has advised schools to stop segregated sports and use gender-neutral uniforms to become more “trans inclusive.”
The Epoch Times has learned that controversial new guidelines from the National Education Union (NEU) also tell teachers to put an end to “boy-girl” classroom seating as it could “distress” trans or non-binary students.
The official guidance—agreed by NEU’s executive committee—has been slammed by campaigners who say it will create a “hostile and untenable environment” for pupils, parents, and teachers “who do not agree with transgender ideology.”
Among the newly published advice, the union has included its own definitions of “transphobia” and “trans.”
It states that “transphobic behaviour” can be anything a complainant “reasonably perceives” to create “an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment for them.”
The NEU’s definition of “trans”—which “goes further” than the Equality Act 2010—says “trans people need not have had any medical transition to be considered trans.”
The union’s new rules have raised concerns among some of its 500,000 members that those holding gender-critical views could be left open to unfair disciplinary action, or even being kicked out of the union.
One concerned member who contacted The Epoch Times called the guidance a “dangerous mess” that not only provides “little reassurance” to gender critical voices, but also “threatens free speech.”
‘Transphobic Behaviour’
The new NEU guidelines come months after the government pledged to produce official guidance for schools on transgender issues.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said a document giving a government steer on dealing with trans-identifying children would be signed off by the summer term.
Mr. Sunak’s announcement came after teaching unions complained members were navigating a “minefield” over the issues.
In March, a conservative think tank report said safeguarding principles are being routinely disregarded owing to the spread of “extreme gender ideology” in schools.
London-based Policy Exchange said that most secondary schools are failing to tell parents if their child wants to identify as another gender.
NEU—whose members staged a mass walkout from schools in England on Wednesday over pay—has now cited examples of “transphobic behaviour” which could lead to members being disciplined.
They include “intrusive questioning” and “failing to listen respectfully to trans voices including those of trans children about their choices and identity.”
Referencing members who hold gender-critical views in its newly published guidance, the union states: “Nothing in this definition is intended to contravene the protections given to all protected groups under the Equality Act 2010.
“The NEU rejects all discrimination and recognizes that holding and expressing gender critical views is protected by law under the Equality Act and the European Convention on Human Rights, Articles 9 and 10.
“This means holders of these views can express them freely, as long as they do so in a respectful manner, avoiding creating an environment which is hostile or discriminatory to trans people.”
Self Censorship
One teacher, who asked not to be named for fear of losing his union membership, said the NEU policies will put gender-critical members “in danger of expressing any gender-critical view in any situation.”
“This means that gender-critical members may be refused union representation if the school management or any offended self-defined trans person or trans ally perceives that their comments are transphobic and it results in the use of the school disciplinary procedure,” the teacher told The Epoch Times.
“It also means that the same person could be expelled from the union if the union’s complaints procedure is used against them and they are deemed to have broken the code of conduct.”
The NEU member said this means there is an “ever-present threat hanging over any gender critical member,” which will “almost certainly” lead to self-censorship.
Questioning the union’s definition of “trans,” the concerned teacher said: “This means anyone at any time in any school context could be trans and could perceive hostility, intimidation, degradation, or humiliation.
“What a dangerous mess.”
He said that NEU guidance about how to support trans children also puts teachers in “an even more precarious position.”
It tells members that “students who want to use a new name, wear new clothes or ask for a new pronoun to be used are protected under the law, regardless of whether they have, or want to have, any medical treatment.”
The document goes on to say that: “To be protected from gender reassignment discrimination, you do not need to have undergone any specific treatment or surgery.
“This is because changing your physiological or other gender attributes can be an entirely personal process rather than a medical one.
“You can be at any stage or part of a stage in the transition process—from proposing to reassign your gender to undergoing a process to reassign your gender or having completed it.”
The teacher said: “This all begs the question about what are teachers to do if the parents don’t know the children are gender questioning and in the process of transitioning? The NEU guidance doesn’t seem to help once again.”
He added: “This is all highly questionable and looks like it won’t stand up to legal scrutiny, which means it should not be offered as guidance to its members.
“The sooner that the document is scrutinised by the government lawyers the better.”
Failing Schoolgirls
The Epoch Times approached the NEU with its members’ concerns, but the union did not respond.
Reacting to its guidance, Chief Executive of Christian Concern Andrea Williams—whose clients include teachers disciplined and dismissed over gender-critical views—said the union’s advice will fail pupils.
She told the Epoch Times: “The statement and guidance from Britain’s largest teaching union will create a hostile and untenable environment for any pupil, parent, or teacher that does not agree with transgender ideology.
“Expert evidence from scientists has revealed that such trans-affirming guidance has catastrophic outcomes for vulnerable and gender-distressed children.
“The statement shows that the NEU has been completely captured by transgender ideology and is pushing guidance that will cause many children short, long-term, and often irreversible harm.”
Ms. Williams referred to the recent Policy Exchange report which said a generation of children are being let down because well-established safeguarding standards are being compromised.
She added, “This guidance from the NEU encapsulates that dire warning.”
“Organisations that care about the safeguarding of our children will not support the social transition of school children.
“Teachers and fellow pupils should always refer to pupils according to their legal gender. Anything else is lying and harmful for children.”
Ms. Williams also said that the idea sports should not be segregated in schools “will only serve to disadvantage girls” and show “they are not protected or respected.”
“The last thing girls want is boys invading their private spaces and ruining their chances of winning any sports competitions,” Ms. Williams said.
“Clearly the NEU does not care about the welfare of girls in schools.”
In light of the Biden White House approving cluster bombs for Ukraine, under the justification that'but Russia used them first', below is a quick trip down memory lane...
First, here is then White House press secretary Jen Psaki unequivocally condemning the use of cluster munitions as a potential "war crime" in 2022. The implication behind the exchange is that only the "bad guys" use them...
BREAKING: Here is Jen Psaki in 2022 saying that using cluster bombs is a war crime
Next, below is a lengthy letter from top-ranking Congressional Democrats in a 2013 written to then President Barack Obama highlighting the evils of cluster bombs, explaining they are "indiscriminate, unreliable and pose an unacceptable danger to US forces and civilians alike."
The letter emphasized they "cause unintended harm to civilians and civilian infrastructure, in many cases long after the cessation of hostilities," and also recalled that "During Operation Desert Storm, US-dropped cluster submutnions caused more US troops casualties than any single Iraqi weapon system."
Back when Democrats were outraged over cluster bombs and the potential for war crimes and indiscriminate killing...
It's no wonder that key US allies in Europe are now objecting to the decision to supply Kiev with the internationally banned weapons.
"Germany opposes sending cluster munitions to Ukraine, its foreign minister said on Friday, a day after U.S. officials said Washington was planning to provide Kyiv with the weapons, widely denounced for killing and maiming civilians," Reuters reports. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters in Vienna: "I have followed the media reports. For us, as a state party, the Oslo agreement applies."
As for NATO leadership, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg shrugged off reports that the US is set to announce cluster bombs for Ukraine. "This will be for governments to decide, not for Nato to decide," he said Friday. He essentially said that because Russia is already deploying them, this makes it okay for Ukraine to do the same.
Rules-Based International Order v23.7.7
This update contains the following enhancements and bug fixes:
💣 Cluster bombs have been upgraded from war crime to important tool to bring the killing to an end.
"We are facing a brutal war, and we have to remember this brutality is reflected, that every day we see casualties, and that cluster munitions are used by both sides," Stoltenberg sought to justify. "And Russia used cluster munitions to invade another country. Ukraine is using cluster munitions to defend itself."
