SALEM, Ore. (AP) — A invoice recriminalizing the possession of small quantities of medication was handed by the Oregon Legislature on Friday, undoing a key a part of the state’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization regulation as governments wrestle to answer the deadliest overdose disaster in U.S. historical past.
The state Senate accredited Home Invoice 4002 in a 21-8 vote after the Home handed it 51-7 on Thursday. The invoice now heads to the desk of Gov. Tina Kotek, who stated in January that she is open to signing a invoice that will roll again decriminalization, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
“With this invoice, we’re doubling down on our dedication to verify Oregonians have entry to the therapy and care that they want,” stated Democratic Senate Majority Chief Kate Lieber, of Portland, one of many invoice’s authors, including that its passage will “be the beginning of actual and transformative change for our justice system.”
The measure makes the possession of small quantities of medication resembling heroin or methamphetamine a misdemeanor, punishable by as much as six months in jail. It permits police to confiscate the medicine and crack down on their use on sidewalks and in parks. Drug therapy is to be provided as a substitute for prison penalties.
The invoice additionally goals to make it simpler to prosecute individuals who promote medicine. It will increase entry to dependancy treatment, and to acquire and hold housing with out dealing with discrimination for utilizing that treatment.
Decriminalization of personal-use quantities of medication, OK’d by voters in 2020 below Poll Measure 110, was supposed to maneuver tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} of marijuana tax revenues into drug therapy and hurt discount packages. That didn’t translate into an improved care community for a state with the second-highest fee of substance use dysfunction within the nation and ranked fiftieth for entry to therapy, in accordance with an audit report launched in 2023.
And with Oregon experiencing one of many nation’s largest spikes in overdose deaths, Republican stress intensified, and a well-funded marketing campaign group referred to as for a poll measure that will additional weaken Measure 110.
Researchers have stated it was too quickly to find out whether or not the regulation contributed to the overdose surge, and supporters of the decriminalization measure say the decadeslong strategy of arresting individuals for possessing and utilizing medicine didn’t work.
Lawmakers who opposed the invoice voiced these considerations. Some referred to as it a return to the struggle on medicine that disproportionally impacted and imprisoned thousands and thousands of Black males.
Democratic Sen. Lew Frederick, of Portland, one in every of 4 Black senators, stated the invoice had too many flaws and that testimony on the invoice heard time and again was that substance use dysfunction requires primarily a medical response.
“I’m involved that it (the invoice) will try to make use of the identical techniques of the previous, and fail, solely to strengthen the punishment narrative that has failed for 50 years,” he stated, including that the measure might transfer extra individuals into the court docket system with out making them more healthy.