The progressive state of Oregon is second-guessing its brilliant idea to decriminalize drugs. Oregon decriminalized small amounts of illicit drugs including fentanyl, methamphetamine and crack, in the state’s 2020 voter-approved ballot initiative. However, the huge surge in drugs, crime, and homelessness turning the streets into a criminally infested war zone has citizens reconsidering.
Calls to reform the decriminalization law want to give police more authority over the situation, although some of the law’s advocates argue that more time is needed to correct a problem that has been compounding for a long time.
“What we know is that putting people in jail has never been an effective way to treat people with substance use disorder,” Haven Wheelock, the executive director of the Portland-based social services nonprofit Outside In, told ABC News.
However, Portland Police Officer David Baer told ABC News “We’re out here every day and we write the same ticket. Some people, sometimes multiple times a day.” ABC News reports on the measure:
Measure 110, was the first drug decriminalization measure in the country that affected harder drugs outside of marijuana and pushed for a health-based approach to fighting addiction versus arrests.
The law went into effect in February 2021 and established Behavioral Health Resource Networks (BHRNs), which is “an entity or group of entities working together to provide comprehensive, community-based services and supports to people with substance use disorders or harmful substance use,” according to the law.
The BHRNs have received state grants – over hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth – to help fund their initiatives.
Officer Baer said that people who are caught using drugs in the open are still liable for a possession of a controlled substance misdemeanor charge and $100 fine, but they are also provided with a card with a phone number for treatment options.
“So you call that number, do a health screening [and] my understanding is they’ll also pay the ticket for you,” he said. However, after three years and over 7,600 drug violations, only about 200 calls to the number have been made, according to data from the state city.
Leaders from Multnomah County, which includes Portland, declared a state of emergency earlier this year over the drug problem as overdose deaths from opioids like fentanyl increased nearly 42% between 2022 and 2023, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
ABC News adds: “the problem has caused many Oregon residents to reconsider Measure 110, which passed with 58% of the vote, according to election results.”