Oregon Democrats move to undo key part of drug decriminalization law

Democratic lawmakers in Oregon on Tuesday announced a sweeping new bill that would undo a key part of the state’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law, a recognition that public opinion has soured on the measure amid rising public drug use during the fentanyl crisis.

The bill would recriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs as a low-level misdemeanor, enabling police to confiscate them and crack down on their use on sidewalks and in parks, its authors said. It also aims to make it easier to prosecute dealers, to access addiction treatment medication, and to obtain and keep housing without facing discrimination for using that medication.

“It’s the compromise path, but also the best policy that we can come up with to make sure that we are continuing to keep communities safe and save lives,” Kate Lieber, a state senator and Portland Democrat, told the Associated Press.

Voters passed the pioneering decriminalization law, measure 110, with 58% support in 2020. But Democratic legislators who championed it as a way to treat addiction as a public health matter, not a crime, are now contending with one of the nation’s largest spikes in overdose deaths, along with intensifying pressure from Republicans and growing calls from a well-funded campaign group to overhaul it.

Researchers say it is too soon to determine whether the law has contributed to the state’s deadly overdose surge, and supporters of the measure say the decades-long approach of arresting people for possessing and using drugs did not work.

The bill, announced by Lieber and other Democrats serving on a recently created committee on addiction, is set to be introduced during the legislative session that starts in February. The legislature adjourned over