Oregon’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law faces growing pushback amid fentanyl crisis

PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon’s first law, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs in favor of an emphasis on addiction treatment, is facing strong headwinds in the progressive state following an explosion in public drug use fueled by the proliferation of fentanyl and an increase in opioid-related deaths, including those of children.

“People’s inability to go about their daily lives without encountering open-air drug use is weighing heavily on the minds of urbanites,” said John Horvick, vice president of polling firm DHM Research. “That has really changed people’s perspective on what they think Measure 110 is.”

When the law was approved by 58% of Oregon voters three years ago, supporters defended Measure 110 as a revolutionary approach that would transform addiction by minimizing penalties for drug use and instead investing in recovery.

But even leading Democratic lawmakers who supported the bill, which is likely to dominate the coming legislative session, say they are now open to revisiting it after seeing the largest increase in synthetic opioid deaths among states that reported their numbers .

The cycle of addiction and homelessness caused by fentanyl is most visible in Portland, where it is not uncommon to see people shooting up in broad daylight on the city’s busy streets.

“Everything is on the table,” said Democratic state Sen. Kate Lieber, co-chair of a new joint legislative committee created to tackle addiction. “We have to do something to make sure we have safer streets and that we save lives.”

Measure 110 focused the state’s cannabis tax revenue on drug addiction treatment services while decriminalizing possession of so-called “personal use” amounts of illegal drugs. For example, possession of less than a gram of heroin only carries a ticket and a fine of up to $100.

Those caught with small amounts of drugs can have charges dropped by calling a 24-hour hotline to complete an addiction screening within 45 days, but those who don’t screen will not be penalized for not paying the fine. In the first year after the law took effect in February 2021, only 1% of people receiving possession tickets sought help through the hotline, state auditors found.

Critics of the law say it doesn’t create an incentive to seek treatment.

Republican lawmakers have urged Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek to call a special session to discuss the issue before the House reconvenes in February. They have proposed tougher penalties for possession and other drug-related crimes, such as mandatory treatment and easing restrictions on placing people under the influence in facilities such as hospitals if they pose a danger to themselves or others.

“Treatment should be a requirement, not a suggestion,” a group of Republican state representatives said in a letter to Kotek.

Law enforcement officials testifying before the new legislative committee on addiction have proposed reinstating drug possession as a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail or a $6,250 fine.

“We do not believe a return to incarceration is the solution, but recovering from a (Class A) misdemeanor charge of diversionary possession is critical,” said Jason Edmiston, chief of police in the small, rural town of Hermiston, northeastern Oregon. told the committee.

However, data shows that decades of criminalizing possession has not stopped people from using drugs. In 2022, nearly 25 million Americans, about 8% of the population, reported using illicit drugs other than marijuana in the previous year, according to the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Some lawmakers have proposed focusing on criminalizing public drug use rather than possession. Alex Kreit, an assistant professor of law at Northern Kentucky University and director of the Center on Addiction Law and Policy, said such an approach could help reduce visible drug use on city streets but would not address what is largely considered the main cause is seen as homelessness.

“There are states that don’t have decriminalization but that have the same difficult public health and public order problems and just have quality of life issues associated with large-scale inner-city homelessness,” he said, citing California as an example. .

Supporters of Oregon’s approach say decriminalization is not necessarily to blame, as many other states with stricter drug laws have also reported increases in fentanyl deaths.

But estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that among states reporting data, Oregon had the highest increase in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids compared to 2019 and the 12-month period ending June 30, a thirteenfold increase from 84 deaths. to more than 1,100.

Among the next highest were neighboring Washington state, where the estimated number of overdose deaths from synthetic opioids increased sevenfold when comparing the same time periods, CDC data shows.

Nationally, overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl have roughly doubled during that time. Roughly two-thirds of all fatal overdoses in the U.S. in the 12 months ended June 30 involved synthetic opioids, federal data shows.

Supporters of Oregon’s law say it faced a perfect storm of broader forces, including the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health workforce shortages and the fentanyl crisis, which only reached fever pitch after the law took effect in early 2021 became.

A group of Oregon lawmakers recently traveled to Portugal, which decriminalized personal possession of drugs in 2001, to learn about its policies. State Rep. Lily Morgan, the only Republican lawmaker on the trip, said Portugal’s approach was interesting but couldn’t necessarily be applied to Oregon.

“The biggest noticeable difference is that they are still not dealing with fentanyl and meth,” she said, noting that the country also has universal health care.

Despite public perception, the law has made some progress by directing $265 million in cannabis tax revenue to bolster the state’s new addiction treatment infrastructure.

The law also created so-called Behavioral Health Resource Networks in each province, which provide care regardless of ability to pay. The networks helped about 7,000 people enter treatment from January through March of this year, double the figure from nearly 3,500 people from July through September 2022, state data show.

The law’s funding has also been critical for mental health and addiction treatment providers because it has “created a sustainable, predictable funding base for services that have never had it before,” said Heather Jefferis, executive director of the Oregon Council for Behavioral Health, which represents such providers.

Horvick, the pollster, said public support for expanding treatment remains high despite opposition to the law.

“It would be a mistake to roll back 110 now because I think it would set us back,” said Lieber, the Democratic senator. “Just repealing it will not solve our problem. Even if we didn’t have 110, we would still have significant problems.”

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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill contributed from Philadelphia.

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Claire Rush is a staff member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.