Oregon rethinking drug decriminalization as majority of voters want change

Oregon voters who supported decriminalizing illicit drug possession with the 2020 Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act (Measure 110) are rethinking their vote. Reuters found that 56% of Oregonians now support the repeal of the law, and 64% want it reformed.

The current law, Measure 110, features a new approach to combating the drug crisis in Oregon. Instead of punishing addicts, the law is designed to lead them to recovery services. However, overdoses are increasing and state lawmakers are reportedly discussing the re-criminalization of illicit drugs.

However, the law doesn’t appear to be going as planned. Only 4% of people who are given a citation with a treatment service number on the back actually see help, according to state data. Reuters reported that the citations are $100, but there is no legal penalty for ignoring them.

Democrats have a majority in the Oregon statehouse, and some are advocating for small-scale drug possession to be a low-level misdemeanor. If a person is found guilty of violating the proposed law, they could face up to 30 days in jail or alternatively seek treatment to avoid jail time.

The proposal would reportedly impose stricter sentences for drug dealers, more access to medication for opioid addiction, and more recovery, treatment and drug prevention programs.

Republicans also introduced their own alternatives, which would include up to a year in jail or — in lieu of jail time — the option for treatment and probation.

Straight Arrow News reached out to Oregon Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber, D, whose communications director, Tess Seger, said that “several proposals are on the table right now to reform Oregon’s comprehensive approach to the drug crisis,” including more than just Measure 110, “but no solutions have been agreed to.”

In addition to legislative proposals, two voter initiatives aiming to reform Measure 110 have reportedly been filed by a group of business and political leaders.

Max Williams, a former Republican state lawmaker and head of the Oregon Department of Corrections, told Oregon Public Broadcasting that the voter initiatives would make small amounts of fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin illegal again.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reported that wealthy donors hope state lawmakers pass reforms in February but filed the initiatives as a backup plan. If enough signatures are gathered for the initiatives, the measures would likely appear on the ballot for Oregonians this fall.

Reuters also found that hundreds of millions of dollars in cannabis taxes have also been funneled into addiction recovery services through Measure 110. However, according to a state audit, Oregon never had an adequate infrastructure for drug treatment to begin with.

The state audit also found that funds from the law were slow to be distributed to treatment centers. Furthermore, federal data from 2020 ranked Oregon last in the nation for access to drug treatment due to “historic underinvestment.”

Despite a lack of results, research from New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine revealed that Measure 110 cannot be blamed for a deepening of the epidemic in Oregon, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.

“Overdoses went up basically everywhere,” said Corey Davis, an assistant professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and the study’s senior investigator. “What didn’t happen is that they didn’t seem to go up more in Oregon after Measure 110 went into effect.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows more than 109,000 Americans died of drug overdoses. Oregon is one of seven states that saw a double-digit percentage increase in overdose deaths from 2022 to 2023, according to Reuters. CNN reported that fentanyl and other synthetic opioids were to blame in most of the drug overdose deaths.