PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon’s first-in-the-nation law decriminalizing possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in favor of an emphasis on addiction treatment is facing major problems in the progressive state after an explosion of drug use fueled by the proliferation of fentanyl and a spike in deaths from opioids, including children.
“The inability for people to go about their daily lives without encountering open drug use is pressing on urbanites,” said John Horvick, vice president of polling firm DHM Research. “That has changed people’s perspective a lot about what they think of Measure 110.”
When the law was approved by 58% of Oregon voters three years ago, supporters championed Measure 110 as a revolutionary approach that would change addiction by minimizing penalties for drug use and instead investing in recovery.
But top Democratic lawmakers who backed the legislation, which is likely to dominate the upcoming legislative session, said they are now open to reconsidering after the largest increase in synthetic opioid deaths among states that have reported their numbers.
The cycle of addiction and homelessness fueled by fentanyl is most evident in Portland, where it’s not uncommon to see people shooting up in broad daylight on busy city streets.
“Everything is on the table,” said Democratic state Sen. Kate Lieber, co-chair of a new joint legislative committee created to address addiction. “We have to do something to make sure we have safer roads and we save lives.”
Oregon was the first state in the nation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other illegal drugs.AP When the law was approved by 58% of Oregon voters three years ago, supporters championed Measure 110 as a revolutionary approach that would transform addiction by minimizing penalties for drug use and instead invest in rehabilitation.AP
Measure 110 directs state cannabis tax revenue toward drug addiction treatment services while decriminalizing possession of so-called “personal use” amounts of the illicit drug. Possession of less than one gram of heroin, for example, is only subject to a ticket and a maximum fine of $100.
Those caught with small amounts of drugs can dismiss a citation by calling a 24-hour hotline to complete an addiction screening within 45 days, but those who do not take the screening are not penalized for failing to pay the fine. In the first year after the law took effect in February 2021, only 1% of people who received citations for possession sought help through the hotline, state auditors found.
Critics of the law say this creates no incentive to seek treatment.
Republican lawmakers have urged Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek to call a special session to address the issue before the Legislature reconvenes in February. They have proposed tougher restrictions for possession and other drug-related offences, such as mandatory treatment and loosening restrictions to place affected people in detention in facilities such as hospitals if they pose a danger to themselves or others.
“Treatment should be a requirement, not a recommendation,” a group of Republican state representatives said in a letter to Kotek.
Law enforcement officials who have testified before a new legislative committee on addiction have proposed reestablishing drug possession as a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison or a $6,250 fine.
“We don’t believe going back to incarceration is the answer, but restoring a (class A) misdemeanor for possession with diversion opportunities is very important,” Jason Edmiston, police chief in the small rural town of Hermiston in northeastern Oregon, told the committee.
However, data shows decades of criminalization of possession has not stopped people from using drugs. In 2022, nearly 25 million Americans, about 8% of the population, reported using an illicit drug other than marijuana in the previous year, according to the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
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Some lawmakers have suggested focusing on the crime of public drug use rather than possession. Alex Kreit, an assistant professor of law at Northern Kentucky University and director of its Center for Addiction Law and Policy, said such an approach could help curb visible drug use on city streets but would not address what is largely seen as the root cause. : homeless.
“There are states that don’t have decriminalization that have the same difficult problems with public health and public order and just quality of life issues related to large-scale homeless populations in downtown areas,” 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 US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that, among states reporting data, Oregon had the highest increase in synthetic opioid overdose deaths when comparing 2019 and the 12-month period ending June 30, a 13-fold increase from 84 deaths to more than 1,100.
Among the next highest was neighboring Washington state, which saw estimated synthetic opioid overdose deaths increase sevenfold when comparing the same time period, CDC data showed.
Nationally, overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids such as fentanyl roughly doubled during that time period. About two-thirds of all fatal overdoses in the US in the 12 months ending June 30 involved synthetic opioids, according to federal data.
Supporters of Oregon’s law say it is dealing with broader storms, including the COVID-19 pandemic, mental health workforce shortages and the fentanyl crisis, which didn’t reach fever pitch until after the law took effect in early 2021.
Law enforcement officials who have testified before a new legislative committee on addiction have proposed reestablishing drug possession as a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in prison or a $6,250 fine.AP.
A group of Oregon lawmakers recently traveled to Portugal, which decriminalized personal possession of the drug in 2001, to learn more about its policy. State Representative Lily Morgan, the only Republican lawmaker on the trip, said Portugal’s approach was interesting but not necessarily applicable to Oregon.
“The most significant difference is that they still don’t deal with fentanyl and meth,” he said, noting the country also has universal health care.
Despite public perception, the law has made some progress directing $265 million in marijuana tax revenue toward establishing the state’s new addiction treatment infrastructure.
The law also created what are known as Behavioral Health Resource Networks in each county, which provide care regardless of ability to pay. The network has seen about 7,000 people in treatment from January to March this year, doubling from nearly 3,500 people from July to September 2022, state data show.
Legal funding is also key for mental health and addiction service providers because it has “created a sustainable and predictable funding house for services that never existed before,” said Heather Jefferis, executive director of the Oregon Council for Behavioral Health, which representing such suppliers.
Horvick, the pollster, said public support for expanding treatment remains high despite the legislation’s rejection.
“It would be a mistake to reverse 110 now because I think that would set us back,” said Lieber, the Democratic state senator. “Abolishing it alone will not solve our problems. Even if we don’t have 110, we will still have important problems.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
