Business owners concerned about ‘open-air drug use’ in downtown Portland

PORTLAND Ore. (KPTV) – Local business owners in downtown Portland are concerned about a recent increase in drug activity outside their storefronts.

The Portland Police Bureau (PPB) told FOX 12 they are aware of the issue and are doing what they can to address it. However, PPB said until drugs are recriminalized on Sept. 1, there isn’t much they can do.

“We’re working on it,” said Seargannt Jerry Coieta with PPB. “We made an arrest early this morning of a person selling drugs. We’re trying.”

Crowds of people have been moved from the Safeway bottle drop to the Central Library, to Washington Center, and now to Southwest 12th Street. Employees who work in the area said they’ve seen an increase in illegal drug activity. PPB calls it “open-air drug use.”

When it comes to fixing the drug problem in Portland, PPB said it’s a much bigger issue than most people think. For now, police don’t have the manpower or the authority to make a significant change.

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For the last few weeks, business owners have been concerned about a recent increase in drug activity and told FOX 12 that it’s hurting their businesses.

Ilya Afanassiev, owner of the Urban Creperie, has had countless problems dealing with people on the street. Just two weeks ago, he said he had an altercation with an alleged drug dealer after he kicked someone off the front step of his restaurant.

“I kicked him out and one of the drug dealers rushed me, screaming,” Afanassiev said. “I guess he got upset because I punched his regular customer. So, he rushed me, pulling his gun out of his little bag. He pulled a gun on me.”

Other people who work downtown have learned to coexist with the activity.

“Sometimes you’ll walk out and there’s people shooting up at the bus stop but… it doesn’t really bother me,” said Lulu Bond, who works at Saint Cupcake, located just down the street from Urban Creperie. “Most of the time they’re pretty nice.”

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Even though some Portlanders have learned to adapt, it’s clear that many local businesses and employees have been affected by the crime in the downtown area.

“I’ve had… 20, 30 employees in the past four years leave this job… because they didn’t feel safe living here,” Afanassiev said.

However, Portland Police are choosing to stay hopeful. When drugs are recriminalized in Oregon on September 1st, Cioeta said the public should finally start seeing improvements.

“I think that we have a good plan moving forward,” Cioeta said. “Those plans are going to take effect September 1st.”

PPB will continue to increase patrols in the area from SW 12th Street to SW 19th Street.

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