Oregon re-criminalizes hard drugs after ‘overdose rates skyrocketed’

A person holds a foil while smoking following the decriminalization of all drugs, including fentanyl and meth, in downtown Portland, Oregon, on Jan. 25, 2024. Since hard drugs were decriminalized in Oregon three years ago, there are no arrests, just a fine and a card with a telephone number where the user can get help. / Credit: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Apr 5, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

Oregon has rolled back its drug decriminalization policy amid an increase in overdose deaths barely three years after it went into effect, bringing an end to an experiment opposed by the state’s Catholic bishops when it was introduced. 

Oregon passed Ballot Measure 110 in 2020, making it the first state to decriminalize the possession and use of small amounts of controlled substances including heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamines. The measure reduced penalties for possession of large amounts of such controlled substances.

Measure 110 in part dictated that possession of a controlled substance would be treated as a low-level violation punishable by a maximum fine of $100. 

Backers of the measure argued that reduced arrests and incarceration would provide savings that could be used to make addiction treatment more widely available and free of charge. 

Dramatic spike in overdose deaths

But overdose deaths in Oregon have jumped dramatically since the measure was passed. The Oregon Health Authority said in January that opioid overdose deaths in the state in 2022 were up 102% relative to 2020, an increase from 472 to 956. Provisional numbers for 2023, meanwhile, were still a third higher than 2020. The increase tracked closely with national overdose figures.

The law ordered that individuals arrested for possession of drugs could have their citation dismissed if they called a state-created hotline and completed a drug screening. A state audit in 2023 revealed that just over 100 people had called the hotline and only three dozen people had used it to seek drug treatment resources, compared with a similar hotline that had received 10,000 calls over the course of the pandemic. 

The state’s new law — passed by the state Legislature in March and signed by the governor last week — institutes a maximum of up to six months in prison for possession of hard drugs, though it also encourages law enforcement to direct accused criminals to “deflection programs” in order to facilitate “assessment [and] treatment.”

Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler told the New York Times this month that “addiction rates and overdose rates skyrocketed” following the measure’s passage. Wheeler argued that Measure 110 wasn’t solely responsible for that spike. But, he said, “the state botched the implementation” of the measure.

“To decriminalize the use of drugs before you actually had the treatment services in place was obviously a huge mistake,” he said. 

‘There is more drug use now than we ever remember’

Drug use has flooded the streets of Portland, Oregon, since the measure passed and went into effect, Ed Langlois, the communications director for Catholic Charities of Oregon, told CNA.

At the time of its passage, the Oregon Catholic Conference (OCC) voiced strong opposition to Measure 110. The bishops said the OCC “firmly supports treatment and rehabilitation for all those suffering from addictions,” but they encouraged voters “to get behind solid programs and not accept an initiative that promotes the use of illegal drugs.”

“We can clearly say that in the last three years, we have seen a significant increase in drug use when our outreach workers go out onto the streets,” Langlois said. “Put briefly, there is more drug use now than we ever remember.”

“We also see an increase in use among some of the low-income people linked to our programs, including housing,” he added. 

Like Wheeler, Langlois argued that Measure 110 wasn’t solely responsible for the huge spike in drug usage. 

“The decriminalization measure arrived at about the same time as an influx of fentanyl in our region, so it’s hard to lay the blame totally on the law,” he said. 

“Sadly, increased drug use brings increased violence,” he said. “We now send larger groups of outreach workers out and have a strict protocol to make sure they don’t get tangled up in anything untoward.” 

“Their bravery is pretty inspiring,” he added. 

Langlois said the promise of Measure 110 ultimately failed to materialize. 

“The notion of decriminalization was to save funds to increase substance abuse treatment,” he said. “That does not appear to have panned out completely.”

The primary driver of the drug crisis, Langlois argued, is that there are simply too few resources for those who seek to beat their drug addictions.

“The main message we at Catholic Charities want to offer is that it’s way too difficult for homeless or low-income people to enter proper substance abuse treatment,” he said. 

“More so than the decriminalization measure, a lack of treatment fuels the drug use crisis we see playing out before our eyes.”