In a general election between two candidates proudly committed to “law and order” politics and aggressive policing — regardless of Joe Biden’s minimal gestures towards marijuana reform — Oregon’s ballot decision offered a glimmer of hope for those interested in significant criminal justice changes. The success of Measure 110, alongside other decriminalization and legalization efforts, is a rebuke to the notion that any person who uses illegalized drugs, no matter what the substance, is best served by an interaction with the police and prison system.
Oregon’s decriminalization measure should not be confused with the legalization of all drugs; it instead entails the removal of criminal penalties for the possession of small amounts of illegal substances. After February 1, the penalty for drug possession will be akin to a hefty traffic ticket: a $100 fine. Those who cannot or do not want to pay can choose to agree to a “health assessment” at an addiction recovery center. The ballot measure also includes the expansion of access to recovery treatments, housing, and harm reduction services, to be funded through the reallocation of tens of millions of dollars from Oregon’s cannabis tax. Money saved by not arresting, prosecuting, and caging people found with drugs will also be redirected to a fund for treatment services.
Measure 110 would reduce convictions for drug possession by nearly 90 percent: from 4,057 convictions in 2019 to an estimated 378 in the coming year, according to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. The same report found that racial disparities in drug arrests could drop by 95 percent, and that convictions of Black and Indigenous Oregonians could drop by a staggering 94 percent. These figures alone show the unerringly racist bent of drug arrests and convictions — just further proof of an insupportable system.
While a first step in the U.S., all-drug decriminalization is not an untested experiment. The Drug Policy Alliance, among other decriminalization and legalization advocates, point to Portugal, where all drugs have been decriminalized for the last two decades. Drug use rates in Portugal have remained lower than the average use rates in Europe, and far lower than those in the U.S. — even while Portugal has suffered through years of heightened economic crisis and extreme spikes in unemployment. Meanwhile, rates of HIV infection have fallen, from 1,575 cases in 2000 to 78 cases in 2013. Following decriminalization, arrest rates for drug-related offenses dropped by 60 percent, while the number of people enrolled in drug treatment programs increased by 60 percent in turn. The number of annual drug overdose deaths has plummeted.
“Usually the focus is on the decriminalization itself, but it worked because there were other services, and the coverage increased for needle replacement, detox, therapeutic communities, and employment options for people who use drugs,” Ricardo Fuertes, a Lisbon-based project coordinator with an outreach organization founded by people living with HIV, told Vice News in 2016. “It was the combination of the law and these services that made it a success. It’s very difficult to find people in Portugal who disagree with this model.”
Image: Yes on Measure 110
