1208 0 obj The Committee expresses concern that the State is failing to strategically build capacity to deal with drug abuse. The Oversight and Accountability Council now has until September 1, 2021 to establish its rulesa two-month extension. We are seeing a lot more property crime than we used to. Property 18,000 local law enforcement agencies in the U.S. And the patients who are struggling with where he was can see that hope is possible.. <><><>986 0 R]/P 1172 0 R/Pg 1158 0 R/S/Link>> The measure emphasizes harm reduction, supportive housing, peers to mitigate retention and navigation barriers, and the full spectrum of treatment services, including medications for opioid use disorder. 1121 0 obj At a hearing on the law, a state legislator from rural Eagle's Pass reported a 700% hike in drug use and a 120% rise in overdose deaths. Crime. <> The Drug Policy Alliance spearheaded Oregons ballot measure. 1192 0 obj Drug-Free Communities Got $90 million from Trump. The defendants were most likely arrested for transporting large quantities of drugs or drug trafficking offenses, said Ken Sanchagrin, executive director of the commission. The $31 million in grants distributed so far paid for thousands of doses of Naloxone, thousands of syringe exchanges, recovery housing, vehicles and the hiring of dozens of staffers for care centers, including recovery mentors, according to the health authority. You were jailed, put on my probation, and if you provided a positive urine screen, or transgressed on one of countless other technicalities, you were violated and sent right back to jail. Extricating COVIDthe confounding factorfrom the data around decriminalization and treatment will be a challenge for researchers studying the outcomes of Measure 110 in years to come. 25 0 obj 1210 0 obj What evidence we have points the opposite way, however. But Oregon is not operating strategically around this issue. May 29, 2022 by . <> endobj Oregons budget biennium ends on June 30. 1131 0 obj <>951 0 R]/P 1200 0 R/Pg 1192 0 R/S/Link>> That`s our big effort right now to try to stop gun violence and the drug-related violence that comes with it, because they go hand in hand. 3 0 obj Like so much else, that remains to be seen. It was the central campaign theme in Oregon when the state decriminalized all drugs by passing Measure 110 with the support of nearly 60 percent of voters in 2020. The Oregon ballot initiative was presented to the public as pro-treatment but it has been a complete failure in that regard, said Keith Humphreys, an addiction researcher and professor of psychiatry at Stanford University and former senior adviser in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. Not all states that have legalized marijuana track drug usage and crime statistics the same, so closely tracking the relationship between legalization and public safety overall is difficult.. Language has been one area of heated discussion. I was appointed by the Oregon Health Authority to the Council because of my lived experience with repeated incarceration for heroin possession, my less-than-pleasant experiences in drug court, and my current public health expertise and my drug policy research position at the Health in Justice Action Lab. The Crime Report But Portugal performed better in all areas after introducing its own decriminalization model in 2001. <> endobj endobj <>974 0 R]/P 1183 0 R/Pg 1177 0 R/S/Link>> We haven`t built anything new, so we need to design a new system strategically quickly. Even having one number to call is progress from where the state was before. They watch them cycle through, they watch them on waiting lists. 1125 0 obj Almost half of those who got citations failed to show up in court. endobj Its also fractured from a governance policy perspective, he said. <> Police interactions, which Measure 110 is intended to reduce, also carry far greater risks for people of color. If the judge determines the ticket to have been given improperly, it could also be dismissed. uuid:bfe04f7e-b387-11b2-0a00-70470f010000 endobj <><>967 0 R]/P 1188 0 R/Pg 1177 0 R/S/Link>> Some would argue that is the point. @[~do>2pyrZK,c \c0@+{(MX';C*2D'H2=Q9X")g~$!IWhDKGhu[P+EbsIb%qG5[.p_~vIa, Marijuana-related Crime in Oregon Following Legalization of Recreational Use. The views expressed in this article are the writer's own. sOG)MM.s*7*u+]#@YI>d5DGupohAst6c^oUE@|JcxO=F"~7. We`re already hearing about people coming to Oregon to use them because they know they can take drugs and sleep outside and there`s nothing police can do about it, said a frustrated Oregon official who asked not to be named because of his work in drug prohibition. endobj Most 60% accessed harm reduction services, like syringe exchanges and overdose medications, the health authority said. The foundational shift can be felt in the council meetings. 7,043,501 and 7,680,859. So I just started doing treatment, more treatment and more treatment. endobj Hope Smiley-McDonald: Initially, we focused on enforcement because the decriminalization aspect of 110 was implemented first. endobj Some 16,000 people accessed services through the ballot measures Access to Care grants in the first year of decriminalization, according to the Oregon Health Authority. Mulls parents were addicts and he fell into drug use himself at a young age. One year ago, on November 3, 2020, Measure 110 was passed overwhelmingly by voters in Oregon. "The portions of the measure that impacted whether or not someone can . 1111 0 obj Updated annually. While law enforcement was predictably against it, opposition also came from more unexpected cornersincluding the recovery community. %PDF-1.7 % Some officials even denounce the idea of encouraging people to enter treatmentclaiming it deprives drug users of their autonomy, which is supposedly more important than their well-being. endobj <>1004 0 R]/P 1156 0 R/Pg 1146 0 R/S/Link>> Oregon consistently ranks bottom of the pack for treatment accessthough defining treatment is tricky, as Senate workgroups can confirm. One of the benefits is were going to be able to do effective drug checking and safe consumption spaces within the next three years.. endobj 2022-02-28T11:05:35-08:00 Appligent AppendPDF Pro 6.3 The cannabis tax revenue earned in the first quarter of 2021, stipulated by Measure 110 to go to the Drug Treatment and Recovery Services Fund, was already slated to go elsewhere. One study showed the risk of overdose being 129 times greater in the two weeks after release from incarceration. But in November, Oregon became the first US state to try a different approach than the one that has harmed DeMacon and countless othersincluding many people who do not have SUDwhen voters passed Measure 110, decriminalizing small-scale possession of all drugs. Wu and colleagues (2020) found that property crimes decreased following Colorado legalization in 2012. If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. And while critics around the world have long called the war on drugs a racist and inhumane fiasco that brings neither justice nor health, Oregon is the first to make a leap toward a radical change in these systems. There is also ongoing conversation between lawmakers and immigration experts about how to avoid triggering future deportationsand whether there is any potential for relief for people already removed from the country. <><>955 0 R]/P 1198 0 R/Pg 1192 0 R/S/Link>> We have just decriminalized. But Portugal saw better outcomes across the board after implementing its own decriminalization model back in 2001. yc M-'K dGv?0. I learned nothing but to perfect the crimes I had already committed, and I learned from other crimes to feed my addiction. Why Are Slashings Surging in City Jails? Because the US service provision is dependent on grant-funding to thousands of for-profit and nonprofit organizationsand because of our unfathomably complex insurance structure that excludes millionsthe burden of navigating this byzntine system falls onto the patient. For years, Oregon ranked near the top states with the highest rates of drug and alcohol abuse and at the bottom of the country in access to restorative services. Portland District Attorney Michael Schmidt gleefully announced that his office would immediately stop prosecuting drug possession even before the law went into effect, stating, Previous punitive drug policies and laws have resulted in excessive surveillance of diverse communities, heavy reliance on correctional facilities, and a failure to promote public safety and health. Less than two years later, Oregon is suffering from the predictable results of this experiment: overdoses are skyrocketing, violent crime is on the rise, and virtually no one is being treated. The reality is that the burden of substance use disorder and mental health care has largely fallen onto the criminal justice system. Police interactions, which Measure 110 is designed to reduce, also pose far greater risks to people of color. Both of these interventions save lives. The program's underlying premisethat users should not be compelled to enter treatmentfails to recognize that community intervention is often a necessary step along the road to recovery. Thats something the states Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission (on which both Vezina and I serve) has been asking for for at least two years, but it was never funded. Reducing arrests will mean that fewer people who use drugs will be saddled with criminal records. A recognized shortcoming of many decriminalization measuresand of Measure 110 in particularis the failure to expunge past convictions for things that are no longer criminalized. Bring her right over, he was told. endobj This process has been far more arduous than it sounds, requiring three separate Senate work groups involving an extraordinary range of stakeholders and hundreds upon hundreds hours of work. What Exactly Are They? Gutting IRS Will Help Wealthy Avoid More Taxes | Opinion, Eliminating Income Tax Means More Money for Americans | Opinion. She is a research associate withHealth in Justice Action Lab and a councilmember on Oregons decriminalization Measure 110 Oversight and Accountability Council. Black Oregonians are convicted of drug possession at a rate two-to-three times that of whites, while Indigenous Oregonians are convicted at a rate five times higher. uuid:bfe04f7f-b387-11b2-0a00-40f62a1cfc7f Legalizing marijuana state-wide has shown to significant effects on Oregon's economy. Oregon's decriminalization of hard drugs has less than 1% of users eligible for state-funded treatment admitted to rehab. Portland, for example, has the fifth-worst arrest inequality in the country, with blacks killed by police 3.9 times more often than whites. 1122 0 obj The Oregon Health Authority voluntarily raised the number of council members to 21, above the minimum of 16 set out in the measure. And only 19 requested resources for services, said William Nunemann of Lines for Life, which runs the hotline. Funded by groups that downplay the harms of substance use and aim to legalize all drugs, Measure 110 has been working exactly as intended. Oregon`s rate of substance use disorders is among the highest in the country, according to federal estimates. <><>947 0 R]/P 1203 0 R/Pg 1192 0 R/S/Link>> The passage of the measure made history. The War on Drugs has been used to dramatically expand police powers when it comes to search, seizure and detention, greatly diminishing Fourth Amendment rights. Less than 2 grams of heroin oregon crime rate since legalization 2020 increase in born. People who are handed a list of phone numbers and sent back to the streets inevitably fall through the cracks. Perhaps most concerningly, Oregon has a higher rate of illicit drug use disorders than any other state. Sheriff Pixley also expressed concerns that there will be an increase in crime rates, addiction, and overdose if people no longer fear jail or severe legal repercussions. In a state that is 85 percent white (though Census Bureau race statistics obfuscate Latinx heritage), the majority of members are people of colora damning recognition of the drug wars disproportionate impacts. About Filter | About The Influence Foundation. Meanwhile, state health officials have reported 473 unintentional opioid overdose deaths from January to August 2021, the vast majority of those occurring after decriminalization took effect. P b#]u^;;+_Rt Z$_5XIr8uAbVcwWnuQ(9zq]Bi[=zNCy#C?D;$T+"\("b Police Lt. Treven Upkes called Great Circle to see if they could help. Prison only makes the problem worse. (AP Photo/Andrew Selsky)AP. endobj Oregon, again, is not Portugal. Additionally, communities across the country have implemented drug courts. And in those cases, pressuring people to seek treatment is absolutely legitimate.. At Great Circle, a staff doctor and nurses check a persons vital signs and do a urinalysis with an in-house lab. Oregon Public Broadcasting reported: Tickets for drug possession meant to steer people to treatment have failed. A detainee who was attacked on Rikers Island, a former jail mental health counselor, a former commissioner, and a juvenile detention manager: All weigh in on the crisis and what can be done in this interview with New York nonprofit news outlet THE CITY. A limitation of decriminalizationas opposed to legalizationis that it does not make the drug supply safer. I learned nothing but to perfect the crimes I already did and I learned more crimes to feed my addiction.. endobj application/pdf She is working on messaging, so people know just how much of a drug they can possess before it becomes an arrestable offense. Marijuana-related Crime in Oregon Following Legalization of Recreational Use 1129 0 obj Shortened form of link. endobj Almost half of those who got citations failed to show up in court. The landmark law is designed to open up more money for treatment while also decriminalizing possession . What we have is a system that is fractured and incomplete, said Tony Vezina. A woman enters the Great Circle drug treatment center in Salem, Oregon, on March 8, 2022. She recounts having overdosed five times, resuscitated each time by police or EMTs with naloxone. Proponents argue that the availability of abortion resulted in fewer births of children at the highest risk of committing crime. in the first year after oregon voters approved a ballot measure in 2020 to decriminalize hard drugs, which took effect in february 2021, only 1 percent of people who received citations for. endobj But reforms tend to pave the way for more reforms. It has nothing to do with the pandemic, it has nothing to do with Covid, it`s because we have a criminal environment that is tolerated and allowed to thrive here. Many of the councilmembers have been directly impacted by incarceration or addiction; others are leaders in the treatment and recovery services field. 1134 0 obj Our big problem is that our health care system doesn`t want it, isn`t prepared for it, doesn`t have the resources to do it, and frankly, doesn`t have the leadership to integrate this [extended treatment], says Marshall, who is in long-term recovery himself. Jennifer Worth, Great Circles operations director, said Mull plays an important role. endobj 1127 0 obj Its one of the main reasons she became so passionate about decriminalization and funding evidence-based treatment. Closing the treatment gap will ensure more residents achieve healthy, drug-free lives. She used heroin again an hour later. Its stressful being in that situation because youre always possibly going to go to jail. 1115 0 obj I started to want to change my life, said Mull, wearing a black hoodie and jeans. Safe consumption is currently banned nationwide and drug checking is nearly absent in Oregon. Portland recorded 90 murders in 2021, breaking the old record for annual murders in the city. 1203 0 obj 8|O> v_/fD D8SM~]YE@y}QFkSA0oT,F Senate Bill 755 is taking all of the pieces and plugging them in to state law. I used to joke that county jail was school for the hood, says DeMacon, an African American woman from East Portland, Oregon. <>971 0 R]/P 1185 0 R/Pg 1177 0 R/S/Link>> endobj It worked for so-and-so. <> Could it be any more obvious that it is time to legalize cannabis? endobj In California, officials recently established court-ordered pathways to treatment for individuals with mental health and substance use issues. Under Ballot Measure 110, possession of controlled substances is now a newly created Class E violation, instead of a felony or misdemeanor. Measure 110 has assuaged some of that fear. When a law enforcement officer finds someone in possession of drugs, they are now written a Class E violation. :+|oT=!3jj?=:>l7DB"X0c.c5C75u}1 +"fT&v24YNgmsq}c^o)oyiUbJ-3z|yKa^w/;IOZs~cJoY02@(h I4_ He has a point. You have, - Your Complete Criminal Justice Resource, Commission Analyzes Trends In Marijuana Possession Sentencing, Arguments Continue In Landmark Cryptocurrency Regulation Case SEC v. Ripple, Do The Right Thing: AG Garland Needs To Throw Out Weak Fair Play Approach. Humphreys believes people should be pressured to seek treatment if theyre committing crimes like shoplifting and burglary, but not if theyre simply using drugs. Jail does nothing but worsen the problem I didnt learn anything of any value during my tenures in jail. Methodology: Oregon crime statistics indicate a total downward trend in crime based on data from 20 years when violent crime was increasing and property crime was decreasing. Call is progress from where the state is failing to strategically build capacity to deal with abuse... For more reforms decriminalization aspect of 110 was implemented first she recounts overdosed! 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