Gov. Tina Kotek has removed a prominent anti-addiction advocate from a task force that will study higher alcohol taxes in the state, following outcry over a December Facebook post about the death of an Oregon brewer.
Mike Marshall, executive director of Oregon Recovers, confirmed Friday that Kotek has removed him from the state鈥檚 new Task Force on Alcohol Pricing and Addiction Services, which is likely to have a major say in whether the state increases taxes on beer, cider and wine as advocates like Marshall have called for for years.
Marshall had faced blowback from some critics since December, when he shared on Facebook about Wilsonville brewer Don Anderson dying suddenly of a heart attack.
Accompanying the post was a snippet of text Marshall pulled that appeared to blame drinking for Anderson鈥檚 death. It read: 鈥淗eavy drinking is linked to a number of poor health outcomes, including heart conditions. Excessive alcohol intake can lead to high blood pressure, heart failure or stroke. Excessive drinking can also contribute to cardiomyopathy, a disorder that affects the heart muscle.鈥�
Marshall eventually deleted the post, but not before spurring outcry. Ben Edmunds, president of the Oregon Brewers Guild, wrote that Marshall鈥檚 post was 鈥渃rass鈥� and accused him of dancing on Anderson鈥檚 grave.
Not long after, Edmunds sent a letter to Kotek demanding that Marshall be removed from the alcohol task force. The letter contended that Marshall 鈥渦sed social media to publicly denigrate [Anderson], humiliating his family and making false and unsupported assumptions about his death.鈥�
鈥淗ow can you ask other members of the Task Force on Alcohol Pricing and Addiction Services to serve alongside someone who is lacking a moral compass, baseline compassion, and respect for our fellow Oregonians?鈥� Edmunds wrote in the Dec. 8 letter. 鈥淣o one deserves this kind of treatment.鈥�
Marshall refused to step down, Kotek鈥檚 adviser says
Asked about the governor鈥檚 decision, Kotek鈥檚 office provided correspondence on the matter between Marshall and Constantin Severe, a public safety adviser to Kotek. It showed that Severe first raised the Facebook post with Marshall in late December in a phone call requesting that Marshall offer a new staff member from Oregon Recovers to serve on the task force.
Severe鈥檚 call inspired a lengthy and fiery response from Marshall, who suggested he鈥檇 been blindsided by the call. Marshall contended that he was only offering factual information about the health impacts of alcohol, and that the social media post was being cynically weaponized by members of the alcohol industry who shouldn鈥檛 have had access to his Facebook page in the first place.
鈥淒on鈥檛 be fooled. Their opposition to my inclusion on the Task Force is not about a single Facebook post,鈥� Marshall wrote in a letter to Severe. 鈥淭his is about five years of effective public education about the harm the alcohol industry is causing Oregon families鈥攁dvocacy that has forced them to the table for the first time in 50 years. Of course they want me replaced.鈥�
Marshall also included a veiled threat, suggesting removing him from the task force could blow up in Kotek鈥檚 face.
鈥淚f I were to be replaced there would likely be multiple stories about the composition of the task force, its mission, the role campaign contributions played in its formation, and possibly even the personal life of Mr. Anderson,鈥� Marshall wrote. 鈥淣one of that is in anyone鈥檚 interest. Likewise, the news that I was replaced at the request of the beer industry will create significant backlash within the public health community.鈥�
According to the governor鈥檚 office, Marshall did not step down or offer a replacement by Thursday, when Severe sent a letter removing him from the task force.
鈥淲e understand that you have chosen not to resign or identify another person from Oregon Recovers to take your place, so I am writing to inform you that you are being removed from the Task Force effective immediately,鈥� Severe wrote. 鈥淲e will be seeking a replacement from within the recovery community for the position you held.鈥�
Marshall said Friday that Oregon Recovers has recommended the group鈥檚 law clerk, Andrew Swanson, to serve on the task force.
Halting progress of alcohol tax hike
The debate over higher alcohol taxes in Oregon has . Oregon Recovers and other advocacy groups have recently hammered away at a tax hike as a way to both find new money to help Oregonians get treatment for addictions and cut down on the tied to alcohol consumption in the state. According to the Oregon Health Authority, an average of six people a day die in the state from alcohol-related causes.
But the group鈥檚 progress has been halting. Two proposals that emerged last year 鈥� one to raise taxes on liquor, another to raise them on beer, wine and cider 鈥� in the face of lobbying from the alcohol and restaurant industries.
Instead, lawmakers created a new 20-member task force with to study the cost alcohol addiction inflicts on Oregon, funding for alcohol treatment in the state, and the pros and cons of raising alcohol taxes. The group鈥檚 findings are due to lawmakers by September and are likely to have a major impact on what action, if any, lawmakers take when they convene in 2025.
Copyright 2024 Oregon Public Broadcasting. To see more, visit .
