If you need an example of bad drug policy vs. human nature, then Oregon is your gal. She decriminalized hard drugs in 2020 and was rewarded with a 200% spike in overdose deaths. People were not more likely to seek treatment, but they were more likely to become unproductive criminals if they didn’t kill themselves.
Oregon has assisted suicide, but this isn’t what they meant, and four years of failure with an exponential rise in unplanned deaths required action. This week, Governor Tina Kotek signed House Bill 4002.
According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, the bill comes into effect on September 1. After that, anyone caught with small amounts of cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamines, or other similar substances will be charged with a misdemeanor.
Oregon has re-criminalized hard drugs but with a twist.
Under the new law, those apprehended by police for possessing drugs will be given the option to “deflect” from the legal system into treatment programs, however whether individual counties choose to go along with that system has been left up to local leaders.
A majority of counties are on board, but it will be five months before the new law replaces the old referendum. The trouble created by decriminalization, more crime, and death, will continue through the summer, after which the also broken Orgon criminal justice system will attempt to address the problem the new law creates. There are too few public defenders to represent the expected rise in individuals in need of their services.
I’m also not clear on how restrictive the rehab route rules are or who pays for that.
Seeing as this is Oregon, I’d have to imagine there is a herd of treatment pigs lining up at what looks to be a rather substantial trough. And while they won’t be able to find enough lawyers or possibly even police officers, the number of therapists will rise to meet the funding available to meet the “need.”
And no, I do not expect matters to improve much after September. Things that are easily broken are not so easily repaired.
