Oregon re-criminalizes drug possession in face of rising overdoses

One of America’s pioneering paradigms in drug and addiction treatment appears to be on its last legs. Tina Kotek, the democratic governor of Oregon, has on her desk a bill ending the law that legalized drug possession and prioritized addiction treatment with public money. After only four years, politicians have reversed the experiment that began at the ballot box in 2020, when 58% of voters backed Measure 110. A sharp rise in overdoses amid the fentanyl epidemic has prompted the state government to pull the project.

“We are moving in a direction that says to Oregonians we heard you, we respect your voices, and we’re taking action,” said Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp on Friday. That day the Upper House overwhelmingly approved in a 21-8 vote a new rule that once again makes the possession of cocaine, fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamines a crime. Neither hallucinogenic mushrooms nor marijuana, a drug that has been legalized for recreational use since 2014, are affected by the new law, known as House Bill 4002 (HB4002).

The initiative sets down new criminal punishments. Possession of illegal drugs becomes a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. It also allows police to confiscate substances in parks, public spaces and campgrounds. Likewise, it facilitates the arrest of traffickers and harsher penalties against them.

It is a significant change to the law passed by the Senate after Measure 110 triumphed at the polls. Under that law, which went into effect in February 2021, the maximum penalty for possession of hard drugs was a fine between $45 and $100. There were no jail sentences, state supervision, or other penalties. Those fined had 45 days to attend clinical treatments funded by tax money from legal marijuana dispensaries. The reward for attending these therapies was to have the charges expunged.

After a year in force, an audit showed that the system had led to less than optimistic results. Only 1% of people who received a summons to start treatment sought help. Measure 110, voted for by 1.3 million people, was inspired by an initiative launched in Portugal — a country that changed its approach to the war on drugs — in 2000. However, the Oregon state government has now realized that one of the key factors of the Portuguese reform was a more proactive stance in treating addictions.

Oregon lawmakers were not counting on the fentanyl epidemic that has swept across the United States. The wave of deaths due to this synthetic opiate has taken a heavy toll on Oregon, a state home to 4.2 million people, which has recorded a 1,500% year-on-year increase in the number of overdose deaths. It is the steepest rise recorded in the entire country. The state recorded 280 accidental deaths due to opiates in 2019. In 2022 that number was 956. The figure fell slightly last year, coming in at 628.

As of Monday, Governor Kotek had not said when she will sign the bill into law. In January, however, the governor said that she was willing to do so. Five of the eight votes against HB4002 were from progressive lawmakers in Oregon’s Democratic Party, mostly African Americans, one of the races most affected by U.S. drug policy. Senator Lew Frederick of Portland criticized the new bill, which he sees as a return to the war on drugs. Flawed or not, the new legislation has a lot of support. The state House approved it in a 51-7 vote.

Democratic politicians have tried to downplay the failure of the experiment by announcing a million-dollar investment in addiction care. Senators have approved the $211 million investment in projects and programs aimed at treating addictions, including within prisons. Part of these funds will be allocated to prevention and mental health. “With this bill, we are doubling down on our commitment to make sure Oregonians have access to the treatment and care that they need,” Democratic Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber said Friday. The senator added that the bill’s passage will be “the start of real and transformative change for our justice system.”

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