Drug Decriminalization Experiment Is a Total Loss: State Lawmakers Scrambling to Undo Progressive Measure
After a 190-percent increase in drug overdoses since 2021, when laws against hard drugs were softened, Oregon is finally doing an about-face on the idea of decriminalizing illegal drugs.
The Democrat-led left-coast state decriminalized drugs several years ago, imagining that it was striking a blow for “equity” and fairness in its legal code. But now it appears that the experiment is over, as a new bill has been passed to pull back on the state’s overly lenient treatment of hard drugs, the Associated Press reported.
On Friday, the Oregon legislature passed HB4002, a bill recriminalizing the possession of small amounts of hard drugs which, if signed into law, will put an end to the leniency that was the first of its kind in the U.S.A.
The Oregon House of Representatives passed the bill to address the rampant drug problem on Thursday in a lopsided 51-7 vote, while the state’s Senate did so on Friday with a 21-8 vote. The bill now heads to the desk of Gov. Tina Kotek, who has already signaled that she will likely sign it into law.
“With this bill, we are doubling down on our commitment to make sure Oregonians have access to the treatment and care that they need,” Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber, a Democrat from Portland, said. Lieber added that the new law will “be the start of real and transformative change for our justice system.”
The decriminalizing law passed in 2020 when voters approved Ballot Measure 110. But the results were shocking, as Oregon quickly suffered the largest spike in overdose deaths in the country, the U.K.’s Daily Mail reported.
During the year ending in February 2021, there were 861 overdose deaths in Oregon, according to the news outlet. After Measure 110 took effect, that number soared to 1,650 deaths in the 12 months ending in September 2023. The cost has been high in personal misery and economic destruction.
Under the new law, offenders face up to six months in jail, or they can choose drug treatment to avoid some penalties, according to CNN.
Republican state Rep. Jeff Helfrich blasted the decriminalization effort and pinned the huge rise in overdose deaths on the liberal measure.
“You look at what has happened: open fentanyl, open drugs on the streets,” Helfrich said. “[Measure] 110 is an unmitigated disaster.”
Senate Republican leader Tim Knopp of Bend celebrated the passage of the new bill that recriminalizes hard drugs.
“Though lawmakers will have much more to do in future sessions to continue making progress on the fentanyl-fueled drug overdose and addiction crisis facing our state, I was proud to stand on the right side of history by casting my vote in favor for HB 4002,” Knopp said in a public statement.
“Passing this bill will put Oregon on a path to recovery and signifies [an] end to the nationwide decriminalization movement,” he concluded.
Naturally, there are still those attempting to use race to criticize the measure, such as Jennifer Parrish Taylor, spokeswoman for the Urban League of Portland. She said the move will disproportionately affect people of color, according to CNN.
“It is not enough to monitor the system when we know it is a system that has bias built into it,” Taylor said. “I fear that we will be back next year, hearing those stories of harm, figuring out how to make our communities whole.”
Other Democrats in the state legislature accused those supporting HB4002 of returning to the failed “War On Drugs” mentality that the ballot measure was meant to end, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
Democrat Sen. Jeff Golden of Ashland, for instance, warned that he has been told by his voters not to support a return to the war on drugs precepts that sent so many black people to jail. He added, “I’ve given that vow to those in my district who are desperately afraid of what’s about to happen.”
And Portland Democrat Sen. Lew Frederick added that he could not vote yes, adding that, “I simply cannot have faith that there will be an equal compassionate treatment given the history of these official anti-drug efforts.”
If Kotek signs the bill into law, Oregon will once again be able to prosecute drug dealers and users who are trafficking in highly dangerous hard drugs — especially drugs like fentanyl, which is responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of Americans every year.
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