Oregon's first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law faces growing pushback amid fentanyl crisis
Oregon's first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law faces growing pushback amid fentanyl crisis
Oregon's pioneering drug decriminalization law is facing a backlash amid a surge in public drug use fueled by fentanyl and an increase in synthetic opioid overdose deaths.
Oregon’s first-in-the-nation law that decriminalized the possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine and other illicit drugs in favor of an emphasis on addiction treatment is facing strong headwinds in the progressive state after an explosion of public drug use fueled by the proliferation of fentanyl and a surge in deaths from opioids, including those of children.
“The inability for people to live their day-to-day life without encountering open-air drug use is so pressing on urban folks’ minds,” said John Horvick, vice president of polling firm DHM Research. “That has very much changed people’s perspective about what they think Measure 110 is.”
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 investing instead in recovery.
But even top Democratic lawmakers who backed the law, which will likely dominate the upcoming legislative session, say they’re now open to revisiting it after the biggest increase in synthetic opioid deaths among states that have reported their numbers.
And of course nobody even contemplating the idea that they underfunded the resources invested in recovery and that's the change they need to make.
Yeah fucking right. I work in downtown Salem. It doesn’t matter if half these people have “resources.” They’re here because they can get their fix without being harassed.
You need repercussions in order for addicts to want to get clean. We don’t have any.
Also severe police shortage amidst nationwide increase in crimes. I don't think any of the drug users are getting cited for public drug use at all unless they have to be taken to the hospital.
Edit: I DIDN'T SAY DEFUND. Portland has a massive police shortage. They also STATE that they don't prioritize nonviolent drug use because they don't have manpower.
I mean, if the people are willing to risk their lives with an overdose, I don't think a criminal penalty is going to scare them very much. So, yeah, more resources for treatment are probably necessary.
so, Oregon had "the biggest increase in synthetic opioid deaths among states" 😱
"...that have reported their numbers."
I feel like that last phrase is doing a lot of work. I'm not going to put in the work to figure out the numbers, but it's a weird place to end the article.
Same with homeless and gun activity. Some states, exclusively red states, don't share their statistics or just don't want to pay to track them.
They're claiming an "increase" in percentage. But just in LA, they had 1910 Fentanyl ODs last year. As while all of Oregon only had 955. It's bad everywhere
http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/sapc/MDU/SpecialReport/FentanylOverdosesInLosAngelesCounty.pdf
It's almost as if legalizing the sale of drugs would give a safe place to get drugs that aren't laced with fentanyl.
This helps those with addiction from getting caught up in the prison system, but nothing to make them safer when taking drugs.
Or in some cases you could get Fentanyl but have it correctly labeled, dosed, and administered.
We didn't legalize them, just decriminalized them. Problem is, we didn't follow the Portugal method and require them to get treatment… just not caught up in the system. So of course this was going to happen.
It's the same dumb approach as it is with the "housing first" model. Yes this models work and they work great!
But you actually have to read more than just the headline of the paper. The decriminalisation of drugs in Portugal for example came with a whole bunch of other new regulations and programs. It wasn't "just" decriminalise drugs and be done with it.
We are approaching Idiocracy status fast...
Are you saying "housing first" works or not?
Because just labeling something "housing first" without actually providing housing of course doesn't work and that may be what you're say. But a proper "housing first" DOES WORK to significantly improve people's lives and reduce their engagement with emergency services (ie, cops and hospitals), which is quality of life for the rest of us.
Here's a study from the Lancet (n=1103): https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370(22)00117-1/fulltext
Well, did you read the study you posted?
Housing First approach is founded on a rights-based philosophy, which provides clients with immediate access to permanent housing and mental health support services
Upon enrolment, service teams create collaborative housing and care plans and facilitate access to health services and income benefits
For all three of our models, health and social service consultation at enrolment was confirmed to be a significant part of multiple indirect pathways to the 24-month outcomes.
Recovery approaches in mental health programs such as those used in Housing First seek to connect clients to meaningful daily routines around school and greater engagement with family and community.
The Oregon way of doing "Housing First" would be to take the name of the program literally, put people into apartments and expect that now all their problems resolve themselves.
Making treatment optional (unlike Portugal) has been the big disaster here.
16,000 people ticketed under measure 110, less than 1% actively seeking treatment.
Meanwhile, drug use is exploding, overdoses are exploding, related thefts and crime are exploding...
"In June alone, firefighters from Station 1 responded to 300 overdoses.
Portland police data shows that back in 2020 nearly 90 people died from overdoses. The number jumped to 135 in 2021, then to 159 in all of 2022. So far this year there have been 151 deaths, all in less than seven months. Police expect that number to be around 300 by year's end."
110 continues to be an utter failure.
And yet recent studies show overdoses have not gone up as a result, and Fentanyl is a growing problem in all US cities. https://www.opb.org/article/2023/09/27/oregon-drug-decriminalization-measure-110-overdose-deaths/
You can't force treatment on someone who doesn't want help and expect results. Just like throwing them in jail until they're sober doesn't stop them from using as soon as they get released.
Not ruining people's lives further with jail and criminal records for personal use is better than what we were doing before, even if it's not perfect.
In the first year after the law took effect in February 2021, only 1% of people who received citations for possession sought help via the hotline
This tells me the voluntary approach does not work. I'm going to guess those citations do not get paid either.