Oregon lawmakers passed a bill to criminalize drug possession weeks after Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency over Portland’s fentanyl crisis.
The Oregon Legislature passed a bill on Friday that recriminalizes possession of small amounts of drugs.
The bill reverses a key part of the state’s anti-drug policy. Decriminalization law, which was the first of its kind in the United States.
The efforts of legislators arise as Governments are struggling to respond to the deadliest overdose crisis in American history.
Oregon has seen a 190 percent increase in overdose deaths since the initial decriminalization bill went into effect in February 2021, according to the CDC.
Oregon lawmakers passed a bill to criminalize drug possession weeks after Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency over Portland’s fentanyl crisis.
The Oregon Legislature on Friday passed a bill recriminalizing possession of small amounts of drugs (pictured: a person pushes a cart along Southwest 3rd Avenue in Portland)
The new bill reverses a key part of the state’s drug decriminalization law, which was the first of its kind in the U.S. (Pictured: A man holding a glass pipe and two lighters struggles to removing candy from a wrapper while sitting on a bench in downtown Portland)
Oregon has seen a 190 percent increase in overdose deaths since the initial decriminalization bill went into effect in February 2021.
Gov. Tina Kotek said in January that she was willing to sign a bill that would roll back decriminalization.
In the 12 months leading up to February 2021, there were 861 overdose deaths in Oregon; that number increased to 1,650 deaths in the same 12-month period ending in September 2023.
When Oregon voters approved the historic plan to decriminalize hard drugs three years ago, they thought ending the incarceration of drug users would be good for the state and potentially spread across the country.
However, overdoses skyrocketed as the state struggled to fund the improved treatment centers that were the core of the decriminalization plan.
The pandemic further affected downtown Portland, causing the streets to become an open-air drug market.
Now, even liberal politicians — like Oregon’s Democratic governor, Tina Kotek — are willing to end the experiment before the drug crisis spirals even further out of control.
The state Senate approved the new bill, House Bill 4002, in a 21-8 vote after the House approved it 51-7 on Thursday.
The bill now goes to the desk of Gov. Tina Kotek, who said in January that she was willing to sign a bill that would roll back decriminalization.
Oregon’s Democratic governor declared a state of emergency over the fentanyl crisis in Portland in late January.
“With this bill, we are redoubling our commitment to ensuring Oregonians have access to the treatment and care they need,” said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber of Portland, one of the authors of the bill.
He added that its approval will be “the beginning of real and transformative change for our justice system.”
Lawmakers’ efforts come as governments struggle to respond to the deadliest overdose crisis in U.S. history.
Oregon has seen a 210 percent increase in fentanyl-related deaths since the initial decriminalization bill passed in November 2020 (pictured: Officer Donny Mathew of the OPD’s bike squad Portland, next to a person who seems fainted)
The measure makes possession of small amounts of drugs such as heroin or methamphetamine a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail.
It allows police to confiscate drugs and crack down on their use on sidewalks and in parks. Pharmacological treatment will be offered as an alternative to criminal sanctions.
The bill also aims to make it easier to prosecute people who sell drugs. Increases access to addiction medications and to obtain and maintain housing without discrimination due to the use of these medications.
kotek, along with his colleagues Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler and Multnomah County President Jessica Vega Pederson, declared a state of emergency last month.
they directed Their agencies work with first responders to connect people addicted to the synthetic opioid with resources including drug treatment programs and to crack down on drug sales.
In the 90 days after the declaration, the new command center served fentanyl addicts who interacted with first responders in downtown Portland.
Oregon’s Democratic governor declared a state of emergency over the fentanyl crisis in late January
The measure makes possession of small amounts of drugs such as heroin or methamphetamine a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail (pictured: Police officer David Baer removes a man who was caught smoking fentanyl)
The bill also aims to make it easier to prosecute people who sell drugs. Increases access to addiction medications and to obtain and maintain housing without discrimination due to the use of these medications.
Center staff can connect addicts with various resources, from a bed at a drug treatment center to meeting with a behavioral health doctor to help them sign up for food stamps.
“Our country and our state have never seen a drug so deadly addictive, and we are all debating how to respond,” Kotek said.
The statement is a recommendation from a task force established by the governor that met for several months last year to determine ways to rejuvenate downtown Portland.