Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
They must be geniuses [here] in Oregon, They are re-criminalizing hard drugs. They should reopen the Oregon State Hospital [closed in 1983?]
I remember being there in the 1970s, working for White Bird Clinic. The people laying out on the lawn were the happiest people I saw that day.
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I don't have a strong opinion either way on drugs, but generally there's an infinite number of ways to destroy the body and mind at hand, and people intent on doing so will explore those methods unless institutionalized.
My year in prison was spent at Santiam Correctional Institute, which was once a mental facility converted into a minimum security prison. Society does need to bring back the loony bin, as sending severely inept or unstable people out to the streets is inhumane.
I had moments of bliss whilst institutionalized. Having highly structured living allows one to appreciate simple things like an evening walk in the yard, lit by a spectacular sunset. So long as you don't employ bullies as guards/caretakers, things run pretty smoothly.
In my childhood, I recall many mentally ill folks in Salem. My assumption is they were expelled from mental institutions near the turn of the decade, around when I was born.