Opinion | How Oregon Became a Linchpin for the Country’s Drug Policies

In February 2021, Oregon decriminalized possession of small amounts of all drugs, via a ballot initiative known as Measure 110. The idea was to treat addiction as a public health problem, based on overwhelming evidence that jailing people for having small amounts of drugs for personal use is both ineffective and counterproductive.

Since then, decriminalization has been widely blamed for increased homelessness, soaring rates of public drug use and a 68 percent rise in the overdose death rate in its first two years. This spike was far greater than the 14 percent rise in the nation’s overall overdose deaths during the same period.

Although Measure 110 passed with nearly 59 percent support, many Oregon voters are now calling for drugs to be recriminalized, citing these worsening conditions. The state legislature, which convenes on Monday, is considering new legislation that would, among other things, restore a criminal penalty of up to a month in jail for low-level possession.

Repealing decriminalization would be a mistake. Researchers studying Measure 110’s effects recently presented compelling evidence that the current law is extremely unlikely to have done the harm for which it is being blamed. But rampant misinformation — often being spread for political gain — means that the legislature is likely to return to its old-school drug war approach. With overdose deaths still on the rise and other states considering decriminalization, a reversal could undo vital national progress in fighting addiction, which is far more effectively resolved with care, not coercion.

If we really want to end the overdose and homelessness crises — in Oregon and around the country — we have to understand and follow the evidence, not the fearmongering.

When events occur in rapid succession, it’s easy to assume that the first one caused the second. But correlation isn’t all that’s needed to prove causation. For something like a change in drug laws to have an impact, certain conditions need to be met.