Portland, Oregon private security guard Michael Bock grew emotional as he shared the devastation he's said he's witnessed resulting from Oregon decriminalizing drugs in the past three years.
"What we had before was a lot better than what we have right now," Bock told "America's Newsroom" on Monday. "Right now we have people dying all over the place."
In 2020, 58 percent of Oregon residents approved a measure to decriminalize small amounts of all drugs and redirect much of the state's marijuana tax revenue to fund grants for addiction services. Since then, addiction and overdose deaths have skyrocketed in Oregon and nationwide as fentanyl swept across the country.
Bock noted how fentanyl overdoses rose 533% in Multnomah County, the state's most populous county, between 2018 and 2022. Dealers act with "absolute impunity", he said, and hand out drugs like it is a "7-Eleven."
"They're doing it in schools, they're doing it parking lots, they're doing it in playgrounds, they're doing it at churches, in front of businesses. They're doing it in broad daylight and nothing is stopping it," he remarked.
Bock said the cheap cost of fentanyl at $0.25 a pill has caused a devastating impact on those in his community, as he shared about one friend he recently lost to addiction.
"You know, those numbers are just numbers on a page until you start meeting families. Until you start getting to know people by name. If I had the opportunity, I would reach out to Wesley’s family and give them a hug because Wesley lost the battle to addiction. We tried everything we could to get him pointed in a better direction," the security guard said, growing emotional.
Bock said Wesley was a man he had befriended and had tried to help over the years. He was saddened to learn recently from his colleagues that Wesley had died.
"This is an incredibly powerful narcotic and one that will take people’s ability to rationalize and make decisions properly. We have to do something different than what we are currently doing. The citizens, the community members, the stakeholders, everyone deserves better than this," he continued. "We have to do different than this. We can’t just keep walking over people."
Last August, 56% of Oregonians said they now disapprove of the pioneering drug law. Both Republicans and Democrats have recently introduced legislation to roll back the controversial measure.
Republicans have proposed revisions which would make drug possession a Class A misdemeanor with up to 364 days in jail and a $6250 fine. Democrats have proposed making drug possession a Class C misdemeanor with up to 30 days in jail or treatment and a $1,250 fine.
Fox News' Hannah Ray Lambert contributed to this report.
