Oregon legalizes small-quantity drug possession
SALEM, Ore. — Police in Oregon can no longer arrest someone for possession of small amounts of heroin, methamphetamine, LSD, oxycodone and other drugs as a ballot measure that decrim- inalized them took effect on Monday.
Instead, those found in possession would face a $100 fine or a health assessment that could lead to addiction counseling. Backers of the ballot measure, which Oregon voters passed by a wide margin in November, hailed it as a revolutionary move for the United States.
“Today, the first domino of our cruel and inhumane war on drugs has fallen, setting off what we expect to be a cascade of other efforts centering health over criminalization,” said Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which spearheaded the ballot initiative.
Ballot Measure 110’s backers said treatment needs to be the priority and that criminalizing drug possession was not working.
Two dozen district attorneys had opposed the measure, saying it was reckless and would lead to an increase in the acceptability of dangerous drugs.
Instead of facing arrest, those found by law enforcement with personal-use amounts of drugs would face a civil citation, “like a traffic ticket,” and not a criminal citation, said Matt Sutton, spokesman for the Drug Policy Alliance.
Under the new system, addiction recovery centers will be tasked with “triaging the acute needs of people who use drugs and assessing and addressing any on-going needs thorough intensive case management and linkage to care and services.”
The addiction recovery centers will be funded by millions of dollars of tax revenue from Oregon’s legalized marijuana industry. That diverts some funds from other programs and entities that already receive it, like schools.
The ballot measure capped the amount of marijuana tax revenue that schools; mental health alcoholism and drug services; the state police; and cities and counties receive at $45 million annually, with the rest going to a “Drug Treatment and Recovery Services Fund.”
In the 2020 fiscal year, marijuana tax revenues peaked at $133 million, a 30% increase over the previous year, and a 545% increase over 2016, when marijuana taxes began being collected from legal, registered recreational marijuana enterprises around the state.
The other recipients of marijuana tax revenues are now saying that, after assessment and related treatment options are set up, the distribution of those revenues will deserve another look. A leading lawmaker agrees.
“In the future, as Oregon’s treatment programs reach full funding, the state should evaluate what other services would benefit from our continually growing marijuana tax revenues,” Oregon Education Association President John Larson said in an email.
Larson said a “balanced approach to budgeting” will support communities and students. The union represents about 44,000 educators.
State Sen. Floyd Prozanski, chair of the Senate Committee On Judiciary and Ballot Measure 110 Implementation, said he expects Oregon’s cannabis tax revenues to increase exponentially if recreational marijuana in the United States is legalized.
That would make the Drug Treatment and Recovery Services Fund “oversaturated with revenue” as out-of-state consumers legally buy Oregon’s potent marijuana, Prozanski said in a telephone interview.
But Sutton noted that besides traditional treatment services, the fund would also be spent on housing and job assistance to provide longterm stability for people struggling with addiction.
“I can’t imagine a situation where this fund becomes oversaturated anytime soon,” Sutton said.
Drugs specified by the measure include LSD, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, methadone, oxycodone, and MDMA — commonly known as ecstasy.