OREGON RECRIMINALIZES DRUGS, OFFERS A CAUTIONARY TALE
Oregon Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek signed legislation this month to end her state’s disastrous experiment with decriminalizing hard drugs, rolling back a 2020 ballot initiative she previously supported after it contributed to a surge in overdose deaths, rising violent crime, open-air drug markets, junkies wandering through the streets of Portland with needles in their arms and the acrid smell of burning fentanyl in the air.
The plan was to end the war on drugs by removing the criminal justice system from the process, elevating a public health approach in its place that would offer voluntary treatment without any coercion. Billionaires George Soros and Mark Zuckerberg bankrolled the campaign to pass Measure 110, which they expected other states and D.C. to replicate. Instead, Oregon has provided a cautionary tale of why heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine ought to remain illegal.
Oregon’s experience shows that compassion is important for addicts, but so are consequences. Responding to the social ills of drug abuse requires a mix of carrots and sticks. Just as many people with drinking problems won’t put down the bottle until they get prosecuted for driving under the influence, drug courts connect many users with help they need but might not otherwise seek.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that the number of annual overdoses in Oregon rose 61% in the two years after decriminalization took effect, compared with 13% nationwide. Unintentional opioid overdose deaths in Oregon spiked from 280 in 2019 to 956 in 2022, according to the state health authority. A study published in the Journal of Health Economics concluded that the ballot measure caused 182 additional overdose deaths in 2021 alone. In Portland’s Multnomah County, more people died from overdoses than COVID-19 during the pandemic.
Police could give people using drugs in public a
$100 ticket, less than the fine for failing to signal a turn. The citation would be waived if the user called a hotline to get a referral for treatment. But more than 95% of people disregarded their tickets altogether, because there were no penalties for failing to pay. A state audit revealed last year that just 119 people called the 24-7 treatment referral hotline during its first 15 months. Given the price of running the hotline, that meant each phone call cost the state $7,000.
Oregon’s leaders deserve credit for reversing course — even if it required a taxpayer backlash and tragic stories of children dying from ingesting fentanyl. The new law, effective Sept. 1, will make possession of hard narcotics a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail.
As Oregon recalibrates, deep-pocketed groups that remain determined to legalize drugs are trying to revise history. Excuses abound: Not enough treatment options were available; COVID distracted state officials; police didn’t receive proper training; the proliferation of fentanyl would have happened even if it was illegal; state officials gave up on decriminalization before it had enough time to work.
But the ballot measure had earmarked hundreds of millions of dollars in cannabis tax revenue to improve the statewide treatment network. To distribute this money, the initiative created a “citizens committee” required to have at least two active or former drug users.
Many people didn’t seek treatment even when it was available and offered to them, because the architects of the law neglected how addiction alters brain chemistry. Drug addiction is that rare disease that the sufferer often does not wish to be cured from. Fentanyl and meth feel good to use in the short term; withdrawal hurts. The criminal justice system plays a vital role in applying external pressure to push addicts into detox.
Yes, the state’s new policy will require enforcement. The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission estimates that the law signed by the governor last week will result in 1,333 new convictions per year for drug possession and that 533 people per year could receive jail sentences for violating the terms of their probation.
Yet Kotek says the state will continue to prioritize treatment over incarceration, “while balancing the need for accountability.” The governor ordered the Department of Corrections to “exhaust non-jail opportunities” for anyone convicted of misdemeanor drug crimes. Jail time will only be required when defendants violate the terms of their probation. The law encourages officers and district attorneys to refer drug users to “deflection” programs that will keep arrests off their records. Convictions for drug possession will also be expunged after three years.
In other words, Oregon’s new rules maximize compassion, even as they push addicts to seek recovery.