Oregon decriminalizing drugs was a disaster. Predictably, many now want to reverse course
Christopher Tremoglie
Efforts to decriminalize drugs in Oregon and create a nirvana of stoned people have been a disaster. After the carnage and chaos that has accompanied decriminalization efforts, many now want to reverse course.
Former decriminalization proponents now realize the obvious (and what conservative Republicans have known for years): drugs are harmful, and criminals who use them belong in jail, not some hippie-inspired, celebratory, fairy tale utopia that had no real chance of ever happening. If common sense had prevailed, all the horrors people in Oregon experienced could have been avoided.
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Incidentally, one group that is also backtracking is the editorial board of the Oregonian. Previously, the editors of the state’s largest newspaper publicly supported the measure to decriminalize drugs. The impetus for their support was predicated on criminal justice rehabilitation efforts. Unfortunately, they believed the left-wing hype that the existing system to “force people with addictions into treatment” was not working and needed a change.
That change the editorial board called for made things much worse.
“After nearly three years of our Measure 110 reality, it’s clear that Oregon, routinely among the worst in the country for access to addiction treatment programs, was not ready for decriminalization. Although the measure dedicated much-needed funding for substance abuse services, decriminalization coincided with both pandemic-era isolation and an increase in the availability of fentanyl,” a recent editorial by the Oregonian read.
“And while studies conflict over the role of decriminalization in Oregon’s crisis, Measure 110 abruptly removed law enforcement as a method for sending adults and youths caught with small amounts of drugs into court-mandated treatment,” the editorial continued.
But supporters of Measure 110 — like the Editorial Board of the Oregonian — didn’t wait on the hope for things to improve. They took action that actually made things worse. Decisions like the one the board supported contributed to the significant jumps in overdose deaths in the state, including bumping Oregon to the dishonor of being the state with the “most youth overdose deaths,” according to the Oregonian.
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The intelligentsia who felt drug decriminalization was a necessity for Oregonian society to flourish now say the state wasn’t ready for it. The people who caused the problem are sure they have the solution. “It’s the new boss, same as the old boss,” as the saying goes.
Hopefully, this will be the start of people realizing that the legalization and decriminalization of drugs are dangerous, harmful things and do nothing but endanger innocent people.