Measure 110, an experiment approved in 2020, gets overhauled as state grapples with fentanyl crisis and growing public drug use
Oregon lawmakers have moved to reintroduce criminal penalties for the possession of hard drugs, in effect ending the state’s groundbreaking three-year decriminalization experiment.
In 2020, nearly 60% of voters moved to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of illicit drugs with the passage of Measure 110, but the new law had grown increasingly controversial as the state grappled with the fentanyl crisis and growing public drug use.
Lawmakers had recently reached a bipartisan deal to undo a key aspect of the law and make minor possession a misdemeanor, while also allocating millions of dollars toward specialty court programs as well as mental health and addiction treatment.
As an Oregonian, I find their explanation to be horseshit and this change as nothing more than the Democratic party trying to sway potential voters in an election year and funnel even more money into the police and prison system. This shit was just as bad before 110 passed but now we’re not wasting money keeping people in jail for months only to dump them right back out on the street.
The biggest issue with 110 is that the state hasn’t actually dispersed any of the funding in order to open up new rehab facilities. Furthermore, police here are still butthurt about all the protests and refuse to do their job 90% of the time (while still collecting their fat paychecks) which makes people believe things like public drug use are legal.
This is it. A lack of training for officers and a lack of infrastructure to support rehabilitation. The bill was set up for failure, as none of the above happened prior to the law going into effect. It’s like removing your physical fence before installing an invisible fence and wondering why your animals all ran away.