With less than three months until Oregon re-criminalizes drug possession, several Portland-area leaders are in closed-door meetings drafting a plan that critics say would largely maintain the status quo in the state’s most populous county.
“I think most people assumed this was actually going to allow people to seek treatment instead of arrest, but if they don’t want treatment they’re going to be arrested,” Multnomah County Mayor Julia Brim Edwards said. KOIN 6 News.
Instead, the proposal, which has yet to be made public, includes a “never-ending revolving door” and little direct access to treatment, Brim-Edwards said.
A man smokes methamphetamine on a sidewalk in Portland, Oregon, on January 10, 2024. The city has struggled with outdoor drug use and dealing since Proposition 110, which decriminalized drug possession. (Hannah Rae Lambert/Fox News Digital)
The Blue City’s population exodus continues for the third straight year, but the pace is slowing. “People feel trapped.”
Oregonians voted to decriminalize possession of all drugs in 2020, and to use tens of millions of dollars in marijuana tax revenue to fund addiction treatment services. People arrested for possession of regular amounts of drugs like methamphetamine or fentanyl would only be fined $100, and the fine would be waived if they called a treatment hotline listed on the back of the ticket. Data shows that the majority of people who get tickets don’t call the hotline or pay the fine.
Outdoor drug use and overdose deaths soon soared, and while researchers claim there is no clear link between decriminalization and overdoses, numerous polls indicate that Oregon voters regret the move and want criminal penalties reinstated.
Facing overwhelming backlash, lawmakers House Bill 4002 In March, it created a new misdemeanor drug possession charge, giving people arrested with small amounts of drugs such as methamphetamine or fentanyl the option of receiving treatment or facing up to six months in jail.
Following a dramatic shift in voter attitudes, lawmakers voted earlier this year to re-criminalize drug possession, with multiple surveys showing Oregonians support the re-criminalization of hard drugs and making treatment mandatory rather than optional to avoid prison time. (Ramiro Vargas/Fox News Digital)
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But the bill leaves it up to local governments to decide how to implement the law before it comes into effect on Sept. 1.
In Multnomah County, where Portland is located, County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson is leading the effort. Oregonian report.
Under the proposal, people arrested for drug possession could avoid arrest by simply checking into a drop-off center — they wouldn’t be required to undergo testing or treatment programs, and there would be no limit to the number of times they could choose to avoid arrest.
“The reality is that the more often someone is referred to the recovery system, the more likely they are to get better, and we know that prison is not the appropriate way to treat individuals,” Alicia Temple, a policy adviser to the committee, told the paper.
Pederson is working on the plan with local leaders, including Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt, a progressive who recently lost his reelection bid to a moderate candidate. Portland’s police chief, the county sheriff, judges, treatment providers, attorneys and representatives from Mayor Ted Wheeler’s office are also involved, according to local reports.
A Portland police officer holds a container of suspected fentanyl found inside a homeless man’s tent. (Hannah Rae Lambert/Fox News Digital)
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At least two county commissioners criticized the proposal, saying they were not informed while it was being developed, a sentiment echoed by District Attorney-elect Nathan Vasquez. Tell that to KGW He has not been invited to the negotiating table and believes the plan is deeply flawed.
“This is a return to failed practices,” Vasquez said. “In some cases, I would say even worse. So we’re looking at a situation where if unlimited deflection is real, what kind of message does that send?”
“This is just replacing them,” Joe Bazeggi, engagement director for the private Medical Behavioral Health Center, told The Oregonian. “We’re just going back to a maybe slightly less harmful version of what we’ve been doing all this time.”
Portland’s neighboring counties appear to be planning tougher enforcement: District attorneys in Clackamas and Washington counties told local media they expect people to comply with treatment requirements and plan to limit the number of times people can choose to evade treatment.
“This is the way we work as a system. We really, really want people to get help and treatment,” Clackamas County District Attorney John Wentworth told The Oregonian.
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Multnomah County officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
