Following the takeover of major cities by drug users, Oregon, the first state in the US to decriminalise heavy narcotics, is about to reverse its decision.
Demands to recriminalise heroin and fentanyl in Oregon are being spearheaded by police chiefs, district attorneys and local leaders, who want to undo important aspects of the liberal experiment that was implemented in 2021.
The initial Measure 110 effort was based on the notion that decriminalising heavy narcotics would facilitate the entry of addicts into treatment.
Feelings that the experiment has backfired are mounting, and momentum is building for a bill to punish drug users once more, which may be put on the ballot the next year.
In a November 2020 referendum, 58% of voters supported Measure 110.
Three years later, an Emerson survey revealed a sharp shift in public sentiment, with 56% of respondents favouring a repeal.
Only a small percentage of addicts who receive “tickets” for drug offenses—instead of going to jail—make it to recovery; most would much rather pay a $100 fine.
The proprietor of Gardner Floor Covering in Eugene, Matt Siegmund, told The Telegraph, “It has been pretty awful.”
For a while now, the homeless people have taken up residence beneath the awning in front of the business. Nonetheless, there has been a noticeable shift since heavy narcotics were decriminalised.
They have both urinated and defecated. Police have been clearing the homeless population for the past three weeks so that my crew and I can get to work.
“Our business is not being aided by it. The goal of Measure 110 was to get individuals into treatment, but the necessary infrastructure is lacking.
“My social security friends tell me that only thirty percent of the IDs they see are from Oregon.”
The liberal experiment appears to be drawing addicts from other places rather than fixing the issue, and the state is overburdened and unable to provide treatment for thousands of addicts.
The policy of citing offenders, which is similar to ticketing in the UK, is the subject of the most criticism.
Measure 110 would impose a $100 fee on individuals who were cited. However, if the addict called a self-help number and sought out therapy, the punishment would be dropped.
Less than 125 people called the self-help line out of about 6,000 people who were ticketed in Oregon, according to Chris Skinner, the chief of police in Eugene.
He addressed the Eugene City Council, “We don’t even really have one successful example of somebody that went from a street citation to self-assessment to addiction services to a place of wellness.”
He issued a warning, stating that the state was “on pace to shatter the record for overdose deaths and calls for service.” An alarming number of police officers and firemen are giving life-saving Narcan.
The police support making drug possession a crime once more in order to force addicts to seek treatment, even if they do not advocate for the measure’s total repeal.
We noticed a marked increase in crime in our town after measure 110 was approved, especially in relation to open-air drug use, according to Tiffany Edwards, vice president of policy and community development at the Eugene Chamber of Commerce.
“The business community voiced several objections. It is seriously affecting our community’s well-being, company growth, and economic development.
“We realised that there were many problems with how Measure 110 was executed, even though it was implemented at the same time as fentanyl usage in the US increased dramatically,” she said to The Telegraph.
However, some people are against going back in time.
Prosecution of users would “go back to a harmful system where people are arrested and put in jail for drug possession,” according to the Drug Policy Alliance, which is in favour of decriminalisation.
In addition, it stated: “People who are jailed are wasting resources because it leads to a cycle of arrests and incarcerations that never addresses the underlying causes of drug use.”