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- cross-posted to:
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Four years ago, the state decriminalized all drugs. Now it’s trying to course-correct — and might make a mistake in the process.
In 2020, it looked as though the war on drugs would begin to end in Oregon.
After Measure 110 was passed that year, Oregon became the first state in the US to decriminalize personal possession of all drugs that had been outlawed by the Controlled Substances Act in 1970, ranging from heroin and cocaine to LSD and psychedelic mushrooms. When it went into effect in early 2021, the move was celebrated by drug reform advocates who had long been calling for decriminalization in the wake of President Nixon’s failed war on drugs.
Now, amid a spike in public drug use and overdoses, Oregon is in the process of reeling back its progressive drug laws, with a new billthat aims to reinstate lighter criminal penalties for personal drug possession. And while the target is deadly drugs like fentanyl, the law would also result in banning non-clinical use of psychedelics like MDMA, DMT, or psilocybin — drugs that are unconnected to the current overdose epidemic and the public displays of drug use.
If this were accurate then why have meth and heroin been such a problem for decades prior to this law passing? How does sticking someone in jail for a couple months keep a homeless drug addict from going right back to it when they get out?
The problem EXPLODED after 110 passed with a massive increase in overdose calls. See the stats elsewhere in the thread.
During COVID when the rest of the population was losing their minds over toilet paper?
Can you point to a source showing the problems in Portland, Salem, and Eugene outpaced those of other comparable cities?
Can you explain how jail is going to fix the problem when that was the default ‘solution’ during the 100 years prior to M110 passing?
Jail is the stick, treatment is the carrot.
Go to jail or get treatment.