The overdose death rate in Oregon almost doubled between 2019 and 2021, compared with a national rise of 50%
There are now few, if any, repercussions for having some drugs in Oregon, after the state voted in 2020 to decriminalise the possession of small amounts of drugs. Now, instead of being arrested, if people are caught with substances including fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and, they are issued with citations, similar to speeding tickets, and fined up to $100. That fine is waived if the offender calls a hotline and has a health assessment.and lowest for access to treatment.
Since decriminalisation went into effect in February 2021, help seems hard to come by. It is difficult to know what impact the policy has had on drug use in Oregon in the two years since—especially as, in the country as a whole, use. But deaths from drugs rose sharply. . “For a lot of people, the criminal-justice system is their rock-bottom,” says Paige Clarkson, the district attorney in Oregon’s Marion County. Law enforcement had been a tool to push people into treatment, she argues, and decriminalisation “completely negated that tool”. Few jails offer high-quality treatment, but across the country, in 2019, 27% of Americans entering public addiction treatment were sent by the criminal-justice system.
Supporters of Oregon’s policy hope that peer mentors—former addicts—can encourage people to enter treatment voluntarily. They were allocated extra funding in the same ballot measure in 2020. But although possession was decriminalised three months after voting, it took another 20 months for the funding to roll out fully. “If I had to do it all over again, I think I would reverse the way that we’ve done it,” reflects Rob Nosse, a state representative.
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