The US state of Oregon has passed a law recriminalising drug possession.
Oregon’s landmark Measure 110, which was passed in November 2020, made the personal possession of all drugs including heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine subject to no more than a $100 fine (https://www.drinkanddrugsnews.com/campaigners-hail-monumental-victory-for-us-drug-policy-reform/). However, new legislation has been signed off by the state’s governor, Tina Kotek, recriminalising drug possession with penalties of up to 180 days in jail.
As well as making possession of small amounts of drugs a misdemeanour from September, House Bill 4002 also expands funding for drug treatment and aims to reduce barriers to access.
Measure 110 was supported by almost 60 per cent of the vote in Oregon in 2020, but polling carried out last summer found that more than half of respondents wanted the legislation repealing altogether and 64 per cent wanted at least some elements repealed. ‘Two years into their new reality, it’s clear residents are waking up to the impact these drugs are having on their communities,’ said president of the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions, Dr Kevin Sabet, at the time.
Despite more than $260m being allocated to treatment, naloxone distribution, employment services and housing services, overdose numbers in Oregon rose faster than the national rate, with most people failing to take up the voluntary offer of treatment that formed a key part of Measure 110. There were also widespread stories in the US and international media about open-air drug markets and drug-related crime.
‘The recriminalisation of drugs in Oregon is happening in a difficult national environment where criminal justice reforms at large are under attack by special interests,’ said Kassandra Frederique, executive director of one of Measure 110’s original backers, the Drug Policy Alliance. ‘As politicians learn that criminalisation will not solve – and will worsen – the problems that Oregonians care about, opportunities to establish a true health-based drug policy should emerge. Despite this setback, the movement to replace drug criminalisation with care continues. We won’t back down until our communities are healthy.’
‘Oregon’s drug policy attracted national and international attention, and its high-profile failure will likely discourage other states and countries from pursuing maximalist decriminalisation policies, at least for a time,’ professor of psychiatry at Standford University and former drugs adviser to president Obama, Dr Keith Humphreys, wrote in the Atlantic last month.
‘But the lessons from Oregon’s troubles should not be overdrawn. One thing Measure 110 got right, at least in principle, is that Oregon’s addiction-treatment system was grossly underfunded, with access to care frequently ranking at the bottom of national indicators. The mechanism that the measure created to manage new spending was clumsy and didn’t work well, but the new law acknowledges the problem and provides extensive new funding for immediate needs.
‘Though our polarised politics tends to frame policy choices as on-off switches, in truth they are more like a dial with many intervening settings. That dial can be productively turned in many parts of the country. Many states are far more punitive toward drug users than Oregon was before Measure 110 was passed.’
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Meanwhile, Germany has legally regulated the recreational use of cannabis by adults. Anyone over 18 can now legally possess up to 25g of the drug in public, with households allowed to grow up to three cannabis plants. Cannabis clubs of up to 500 members will also be allowed to legally grow and distribute the drug on a not-for-profit basis, provided the members are German nationals. However, it will remain illegal to smoke cannabis near schools or in ‘pedestrian zones’ during the day.
‘This is the fifth European country to embrace cannabis reforms over outdated prohibitionist policies following Malta, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Switzerland in the last three years,’ said Transform’s public affairs and policy manager Ester Kincová. ‘The country’s key role in European politics means this is not only a significant shift for the country but for all of Europe, and the wider world.’