For several years, DPA and the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon worked together fist in glove lobbying for Measure 110 at Oregon’s capital. Both organizations advocate for the the drug user.

How does the ACLU feel about the civil (and human) rights of trafficked children selling their client drugs?

If you want to buy fentanyl in downtown Portland, the choice spot is the corner of Southwest 6th Avenue and Harvey Milk Street. The market opens at 6 pm, after cops and commuters go home to their families. The sellers are kids who wear black ski masks and look barely old enough to drive…

Read this 2023 article by Lucas Manfield.

There’s a hierarchy to the international drug trade. While Mexican cartels do the manufacturing, the dirty work of selling and moving the drugs falls on young men, often immigrants fleeing poverty in countries like Honduras, with little if any connection to the cartels that supply their product…Some of the dealers are juveniles. One person familiar with investigating drug trafficking operations in Portland has a theory: They’re being exploited by higher-ups who know there’s little consequence if the kids are caught. 

This theory was confirmed by the former Multnomah County DA Mike Schmidt:

We’ve seen juvenile Hondurans. And, of course, our concern, especially when you’re talking about juveniles, is that they’re being run up here. And it’s intentional. They know our laws. They know that we put an emphasis on trying not to lock kids up for crimes. So I think that they are intentionally exploiting those laws with young people from Honduras.