Melissa Jones started Stabbin’ Wagon, a mobile service that provides things like clean needles and overdose medication to drug users, in 2020. The organization's goal is to reduce some risks of drug use like the spread of disease. In 2021, the group received nearly $600,000 dollars in state funding provided by Oregon’s Measure 110.
But Jones said that local pushback from those claiming her work enables drug use has taken a toll.
“It just became too much. It was really overwhelming,” said Jones. “For me personally, it was overwhelming. For me professionally, it was negatively impacting pretty much every aspect of my life.”
She said critics “doxxed” her, sharing her address on social media, which forced her to move. And that stress caused her to be hospitalized in April due to a mental health crisis.
She also claimed local police surveillance had negatively impacted her. Last August Jones was arrested for interfering with police while she hosted an HIV-testing event in Medford. A statement last year from the Medford Police Department denied any wrongdoing in their monitoring of her group’s activity.
Although she’s stepping down, she said Stabbin’ Wagon will continue its work and its funding will not be impacted.
“I love it so much,” said Jones about working in harm reduction. ”But I don't think that I'm going to be able to do that for a little while. I'm definitely going to need a pretty long break after everything that happened.”
