Ben West Advances Major Drug Treatment Campus to Confront Addiction Crisis in Clackamas County
Published on OPB.org
An OPB report on Clackamas County’s decision to purchase the former Clackamas Elementary School property for a comprehensive drug treatment campus features Commissioner Ben West as the driving force behind a bold shift in how the county addresses addiction. The six-acre site will house detox services, residential treatment beds, medication-assisted treatment, transitional housing, and potentially medical and dental care — creating one of the most ambitious recovery initiatives in the region.
During the vote approving $3.5 million for the property purchase, West delivered some of the most direct and urgent comments in the meeting. “Citizens look at us and wonder: What are their leaders doing?” he said. “How much longer do they have to step over bodies? Or see human despair in the streets?” His remarks underscored growing frustration with Oregon’s addiction and mental health crisis and the failures of past models. West made clear that housing alone cannot solve the problem: “We can’t house our way out of this,” he said, pointing to the need for intensive treatment and structured recovery instead of short-term fixes.
The planned center is not a shelter or drop-in site, but a long-term treatment and stabilization campus with stays of up to 18 months. Referrals might come from police, hospitals, family members, or individuals seeking help themselves — aligning closely with September’s statewide adoption of drug “deflection,” which allows certain possession cases to be routed to treatment instead of criminal court. Local leaders, including District Attorney John Wentworth, see the center as a potential backbone of the county’s deflection program and a critical future resource for law enforcement.
While the center is still several years from opening and requires $35–40 million in total funding, West’s leadership places Clackamas County at the forefront of building real recovery infrastructure — moving past rhetoric and toward transformative solutions.
Content credit to OPB.org
