Oregon, sweet Oregon
Drink up.
Oregon's reputation is changing.
When I was a college student in Massachusetts back in the 1960s Oregon had a stellar reputation for politics, at least among classmates. We had two Senators opposed to the Vietnam War: Republican Mark Hatfield and Democrat Wayne Morse. In the 1970s Oregon developed other reputations, also good. Oregon had a bottle bill to reduce roadside litter. We had public ownership of ocean beaches. We had a governor who said Oregon was so great it shouldn't get ruined with overcrowding, so visit but don't stay. That was an unusual advertisement for the state. We were quirky but special. Oregon got a reputation as the running and jogging capital of the world. Steve Prefontaine was a celebrity. Oregonians were fit and healthy, or at least working at it.
More recently we gained a reputation as a place that was like California, but less crowded and expensive. Oregon implied "livability." Life was easier here, and better. Californians came here to retire.
Recently things got darker. NY Times writer Nicholas Kristof writes from Oregon about the multiple dysfunctions of his boyhood home in rural Oregon. Oregon was partly Appalachia. Somehow the same distressed counties were associated with world class pinot noir wines. Nearby Portland was an over-the-top liberal utopia, parodied in the TV show Portlandia. Somehow Oregon was all three at once.
Jack Mullen spent his youth in Southern Oregon. He lives in Washington, D.C. now. He has been reading stories in the national news that add a new dimension to Oregon as the number one state for drug and alcohol addictions.
Guest Post by Jack Mullen
Oregon’s pristine 20th century image no longer holds sway across the nation.
As a former Oregon resident having grown up in the Rogue Valley, I wince every time I hear downtown Portland referred to as a combat zone. Descriptions of rural Oregon fare no better, with many sordid accounts of the ravages of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and even heroin tearing communities apart.
Perhaps Portland’s reputation as “Beervana”, the nation’s leader in craft breweries, helps seal the town’s culinary reputation as a better restaurant town than San Francisco. But at what cost?
Perhaps all the wineries dotting the Oregon countryside make Oregonians proud when they learn that Oregon ranks second only to California in the number of wineries in a state. But at what cost?
Without sounding too much of a “get off my lawn” type, I can remember spending summers sauntering across the Rogue Valley with Peter Sage, thinning and picking pears. Those orchards, where occasionally I chucked a rotten pear at Peter, as he diligently was plucking off a ripe Anjou, are now growing grapes. Only 12% of the valley’s pear orchards that existed during the 1960’s still exist, having been sold off. I suppose you can say beautiful vineyards make for an even more scenic Rogue River Valley.
What concerns me is Oregon is now referred to as a drinker’s paradise. Oregon has the highest rate of alcohol disorder in the country. The Oregon Health Authority was quoted in the New York Times saying more Oregon residents died of alcohol related deaths than meth, fentanyl and heroin combined. This is not pretty.
American history is resplendent with the tug of war with those trying to control perceived vices. Women founded he Temperance Movement in the late 19th century, which, to its everlasting credit, resulted in giving women the right to vote. The Temperance movement also lead to Prohibition. The former was long overdue, the latter proved to be a disaster.
Temperance Movement descendants later found success when they formed MADD, Mother Against Drunk Driving, resulting in fewer deaths.
Is it possible to lessen alcohol related deaths beyond just drunk driving?
The long-fought battle against Big Tobacco provides an example on how to succeed and save lives. It took increased taxes on a pack of cigarettes, a ban of all television and radio cigarette commercials, and even Hollywood deciding not to glamorize smoking to make a potential smokers think twice about smoking.
The same road to success with alcohol is to tax the producers and sellers, who in turn pass on costs to the consumer. Studies show at least in Illinois and Maryland, increased taxes on producers reduced binge drinking. I’d say that is at least a start.