Oregon law to decriminalize all drugs goes into effect, offering addicts rehab instead of prison

[ZiprHead]

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/01/oregon-decriminalizes-all-drugs-offers-treatment-instead-jail-time/4311046001/?fbclid=IwAR3dqOmiH7aQEXcSi9F2QV13qDUJ7_D5KR7jkmyD7rxER8Nbz6SbVgb468Y

Now Gullickson, executive director of the Mental Health & Addiction Association of Oregon, is determined to give other addicts the same opportunity. That’s why she pushed for the passage of Measure 110, first-of-its-kind legislation that decriminalizes the possession of all illegal drugs in Oregon, including heroin, cocaine, meth and oxycodone. Instead of a criminal-justice-based approach, the state will pivot to a health-care-based approach, offering addicts treatment instead of prison time. Those in possession will be fined $100, a citation that will be dropped if they agree to a health assessment.

The law goes into effect Monday and will be implemented over the next decade by the state officials at the Oregon Health Authority.

Advocates say the pivot will be life-changing for thousands of Oregonians.

“One of the things people misunderstand is how criminalization creates barriers to treatment,” says Kassandra Frederique, the executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a national nonprofit dedicated to legalizing illicit drug use. “If we want people to make different choices, we have to give them more options ... ending criminalization will do leaps and bounds around ending shame, which automatically opens people up for other opportunities.”

 

[Jarhyn]

About. Fucking. Time.

 

[Worldtraveller]

Good deal. One state down, 49 to go.

 

[SimpleDon]

About. Fucking. Time.

Defunding the war on drugs.

 

[ronburgundy]

About. Fucking. Time.

Defunding the war on drugs.

Which should allow for massively reducing police budgets. Yet, that doesn't seem to be happening. The Portland city council proposed a 2021 budget that was 10 million greater than 2020. The mayor forced them to reduce it by 20 million, but only b/c of the 75 million in revenue reductions caused by COVID (fewer parking tickets, etc).

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/cbo/article/763271#:~:text=The%20Police%20Bureau's%20FY%202019,million%20in%20non%2Ddiscretionary%20resources.

 

[Trausti]

About. Fucking. Time.

Defunding the war on drugs.

Which should allow for massively reducing police budgets. Yet, that doesn't seem to be happening. The Portland city council proposed a 2021 budget that was 10 million greater than 2020. The mayor forced them to reduce it by 20 million, but only b/c of the 75 million in revenue reductions caused by COVID (fewer parking tickets, etc).

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/cbo/article/763271#:~:text=The%20Police%20Bureau's%20FY%202019,million%20in%20non%2Ddiscretionary%20resources.

Really? Drug addicts need to get cash for their habit from somewhere. Seattle is an exemplar of the high property crime/theft associated with lax drug enforcement.

 

[ronburgundy]

Which should allow for massively reducing police budgets. Yet, that doesn't seem to be happening. The Portland city council proposed a 2021 budget that was 10 million greater than 2020. The mayor forced them to reduce it by 20 million, but only b/c of the 75 million in revenue reductions caused by COVID (fewer parking tickets, etc).

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/cbo/article/763271#:~:text=The%20Police%20Bureau's%20FY%202019,million%20in%20non%2Ddiscretionary%20resources.

Really? Drug addicts need to get cash for their habit from somewhere. Seattle is an exemplar of the high property crime/theft associated with lax drug enforcement.

There are as many people arrested and jailed in the US for drug crimes as there are for all theft and robbery crimes. Only a small fraction of theft and robbery crimes are by addicts needing cash for their habit. Thus the % of police budgets used to enforce drug crime laws is 10-20 times the % of their budget used for property crimes by drug addicts. Also, those property crimes by addicts would drop as well if more of the police budget was redirected to addictions treatment.

 

[TomC]

Which should allow for massively reducing police budgets. Yet, that doesn't seem to be happening. The Portland city council proposed a 2021 budget that was 10 million greater than 2020.

How about we look at a big picture, instead of one city and one annual budget?

Spending less on enforcement and more on care can't do worse than the current situation. The current situation is a nightmare of selective enforcement and underfunded social services.

I'm not talking about any particular city, in any particular year. I'm talking about the broad failure of The War on Drugs over the last 50 years here in the US.
Tom

 

[Gospel]

Finally something that will help me remember Oregon is a state.

 

[ronburgundy]

Which should allow for massively reducing police budgets. Yet, that doesn't seem to be happening. The Portland city council proposed a 2021 budget that was 10 million greater than 2020.

How about we look at a big picture, instead of one city and one annual budget?

Spending less on enforcement and more on care can't do worse than the current situation. The current situation is a nightmare of selective enforcement and underfunded social services.

I'm not talking about any particular city, in any particular year. I'm talking about the broad failure of The War on Drugs over the last 50 years here in the US.
Tom

To be clear that budget was specifically for the Portland PD, not the city overall. My point was that the PD budget should be reduced to redirect some it to treatment, not that the total city budget should be less. Unless the PD was already completely disregarding drug laws still on the books, it's unclear why they would need the same budget given how much police time and resource are typically spend on drug cases.

 

[Gospel]

Which should allow for massively reducing police budgets. Yet, that doesn't seem to be happening. The Portland city council proposed a 2021 budget that was 10 million greater than 2020.

How about we look at a big picture, instead of one city and one annual budget?

Spending less on enforcement and more on care can't do worse than the current situation. The current situation is a nightmare of selective enforcement and underfunded social services.

I'm not talking about any particular city, in any particular year. I'm talking about the broad failure of The War on Drugs over the last 50 years here in the US.
Tom

To be clear that budget was specifically for the Portland PD, not the city overall. My point was that the PD budget should be reduced to redirect some it to treatment, not that the total city budget should be less. Unless the PD was already completely disregarding drug laws still on the books, it's unclear why they would need the same budget given how much police time and resource are typically spend on drug cases.

I get a warm fuzzy feeling inside reading both of your suggestions. Any reallocation of the funds towards services that benefit the general public is better than cut funds and do nothing. I hope that's a conversation Oregon state officials had before decriminalizing drugs. They did right? Right? Aw come on don't look at me like that! I didn't want to do the research!

 

[Worldtraveller]

Finally something that will help me remember Oregon is a state.

Well, you live in FL, how does that work?

I mean, I live in UT, and there's a lot of shitty stuff about living here, but I'd go to OR or WA in a fucking heartbeat.

 

[Gospel]

Finally something that will help me remember Oregon is a state.

Well, you live in FL, how does that work?

I mean, I live in UT, and there's a lot of shitty stuff about living here, but I'd go to OR or WA in a fucking heartbeat.

I may not be able to remember at times that Oregon is a state but I do remember my comment wasn't about which states are better.

 

[WAB]

Hooray! Now let all the other states follow suit.

Genuine good news!

 

[thebeave]

Hooray! Now let all the other states follow suit.

Genuine good news!

I think other states would be wise to watch how this pans out over the next few years in Oregon before following suit. Learn from Oregon's possibly costly mistakes that will inevitably arise (unintended consequences and all that).

 

[Elixir]

Hooray! Now let all the other states follow suit.

Genuine good news!

I think other states would be wise to watch how this pans out over the next few years in Oregon before following suit. Learn from Oregon's possibly costly mistakes that will inevitably arise (unintended consequences and all that).

Yeah, it's a big mystery how it will work out, and it has only been TWENTY FUCKING YEARS since they tried it in PORTUGAL.

The reality is that Portugal’s drug situation has improved significantly in several key areas. Most notably, HIV infections and drug-related deaths have decreased, while the dramatic rise in use feared by some has failed to materialise. However, such improvements are not solely the result of the decriminalisation policy; Portugal’s shift towards a more health-centred approach to drugs, as well as wider health and social policy changes, are equally, if not more, responsible for the positive changes observed. Drawing on the most up-to-date evidence, this briefing clarifies the extent of Portugal’s achievement, and debunks some of the erroneous claims made about the country’s innovative approach to drugs.

 

[ronburgundy]

Hooray! Now let all the other states follow suit.

Genuine good news!

I think other states would be wise to watch how this pans out over the next few years in Oregon before following suit. Learn from Oregon's possibly costly mistakes that will inevitably arise (unintended consequences and all that).

What kind of results of people having personal liberty do you think would warrant the state violently incarcerating citizens for doing nothing but consuming particular plants in their own homes?

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Which should allow for massively reducing police budgets. Yet, that doesn't seem to be happening. The Portland city council proposed a 2021 budget that was 10 million greater than 2020. The mayor forced them to reduce it by 20 million, but only b/c of the 75 million in revenue reductions caused by COVID (fewer parking tickets, etc).

https://www.portlandoregon.gov/cbo/article/763271#:~:text=The%20Police%20Bureau's%20FY%202019,million%20in%20non%2Ddiscretionary%20resources.

Really? Drug addicts need to get cash for their habit from somewhere. Seattle is an exemplar of the high property crime/theft associated with lax drug enforcement.

If they actually legalized drugs the crime rate would be something like cut in half. The thing is the illegality makes the drugs a lot more expensive than they need to be and thus causes a lot of crime to get money for the drugs. Make them legal and druggie crime would drop to a similar level to wino crime.

 

[ideologyhunter]

It's the drugs that have been legal for centuries that put a million Americans in their graves every 3 years -- nicotine as delivered by tobacco and beverage alcohol.

 

[Jarhyn]

It's the drugs that have been legal for centuries that put a million Americans in their graves every 3 years -- nicotine as delivered by tobacco and beverage alcohol.

And let's be clear here, the mechanisms for tobacco deaths are secondary/side effects: tissue damage leading to cancer or primary organ failure.

For alcohol, it is a mix of behavioral issues and secondary damage.

The primary thing that needs to be done around this is to tax drugs to a point where those taxes cover the public/health costs of allowing the behavior, and not much further so as to prevent black markets from succeeding.

Then, the second way to address this seem to be education and habit forming around responsible use, as well building an awareness of which substances create personal health liabilities.