Oregon Democrats are approaching the upcoming legislative session with their eyes on drug addiction and overdoses.
Last week legislators released a proposal on addressing these issues, specifically looking to build more treatment facilities, introduce more programs to help people get off drugs and enforce harsher penalties on dealers who sell in specific areas, like near homeless shelters or drug addiction treatment centers.
Notably, lawmakers are also looking to reinstate penalties for drug possession, according to an Oregon Capital Chronicle report.
Oregon historically passed Measure 110 in 2020, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs and put part of the state’s cannabis revenue toward funding addiction programs and other services that Medicaid does not cover.
Measure 110 allows police in the state to issue $100 citations to people found with small amounts of drugs, and the penalty can be waived if individuals undergo an assessment.
Oregon Lawmakers Moving Back Decriminalization Measure?
While the new proposal wouldn’t abolish Measure 110 and would still allow money to support addiction programs, it would specifically look at the decriminalization of possession, instead making drug possession a misdemeanor which carries a penalty of up to 30 days in jail, a fine of up to $1,250 or both.
While Democratic lawmakers are not aiming to put people addicted to drugs in jail, they also claim that the current system is not working and hope to find middle ground to tackle both Oregon’s addiction crisis while still allowing the program funding of Measure 110.
The proposal includes a number of specific changes. On a public health standpoint, it looks to allow doctors to prescribe medication-assisted treatment more easily, limit insurer delays, increase the length of time for welfare holds, put $30 million into recovery housing and fund apprenticeship programs for behavioral health workers.
“Our goal was to create the best policy that we can for Oregonians while still listening to everybody,” said Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber (D-Beaverton). “We’ve spread a wide net on this. And we believe that this is really the compromise path.”
Additionally, the proposal would make it possible for anyone with a large quantity of drugs and paraphernalia to be charged with delivery of a controlled substance, introduce harsher penalties for drug dealing in public parks or within 500 feet of homeless shelters and addiction treatment centers and direct a court committee to evaluate the criteria determining if individuals stay in jail while facing drug delivery or manufacturing charges.
The proposal would also require a deflection program to be offered to anyone before prosecution, including treatment and other services, and individuals would only be prosecuted if they declined to enter the program.
Criticism From Both Sides
The proposal has been met with criticism, largely from Republicans who were originally opposed to Measure 110 and argue this new move isn’t doing enough.
Republican Rep. Christine Goodwin said the proposal is full of “farcical fixes,” claiming that Measure 110 “has proven that voluntary addiction treatment does not work and keeps people chronically addicted.” Republican Rep. Kevin Mannix suggested that a class C misdemeanor is not harsh enough and suggested the reestablishment of making drug possession a class A misdemeanor, which carries up to 364 days in jail, a fine of up to $6,250 or both.
Law enforcement officers have additionally argued that the proposal doesn’t go as far as it should. Crook County Sheriff John Gautney pointed to the deflection program specifically, calling it a “complex and resource-intensive approach that we are unable to support.”
McMinnville Police Chief Matt Scales said that the proposal places law enforcement officers in the “challenging position of engaging without the tools necessary to be effective,” saying it lacks the “necessary incentives for individuals struggling with addiction to actively seek help.”
Conversely Oregonians for Safety & Recovery, a coalition including the ACLU of Oregon and the Health Justice Recovery Alliance, criticized the proposal for a different reason, arguing that it is returning to a failed war on drugs instead of supporting services.
Health Justice Recovery Alliance Executive Director Tera Hurst said the proposal decriminalizes “addiction with jail and fines,” calling the approach “complicated, costly, ineffective” and “doomed to fail.”
“Instead of writing the criminal justice system a blank check that will ultimately divert dollars away from treatment services, they should be investing in expanded treatment services without threat of arrest,” Hurst said.
The proposal could change through the legislative process and may require approval of several bills. Oregon’s 35-day legislative session begins Feb. 5.
