Decriminalizing possession of street and illegal prescription drugs, Oregon becomes the first state in the union to end the infamous war on drugs that filled local jails, state and federal prisons up for the last 60 years. Passing Ballot Measure 110, Oregon voters ended to mass incarcerations of non-violent drug-related offenses that overflowed jails and prisons, but, more importantly, destroyed the lives to drug users. Incarcerated drug uses rotted in prison, taking a valuable commodity out of circulation for years, sometimes decades, all because they violated federal and state drug laws. Oregon residents found possessing drugs would be subject to a $100 fine or submit to a health assessment that would recommend drug rehab treatment. Passing Nov. 8, Oregon’s Ballot Measure 110 ended for posterity the punitive nature of drug laws that harmed society by incarcerating otherwise productive citizens.
Oregon’s new decriminalization law is likely to spread to other states, especially neighboring California, holding the largest prison populations in the country for drug-related offenses. “Today, the first domino of our cruel and inhumane war on drugs has fallen, setting off what we expect to be a cascade of other efforts centering on health over criminalization,” said Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliances which sponsored Ballot Measure 110. Instead of facing arrest, conviction and incarceration, Oregon residents now get fined $100 or submit to a health assessment to determine appropriate treatment. Issuing the equivalents of a “traffic ticket,” Oregon authorities join the health care community in offering offenders the opportunity of receiving life-and-career-saving drug rehab, currently only available to the rich-and-famous or those with rare PPO insurance.
Oregon’s Ballot Measure 110 sets up funding mechanisms off the legalized marijuana industry, capping the pot-tax revenue to schools, mental health, alcoholism and drug services , the state police, cities and counties to $45 million, leaving the rest to fund rehab centers for drug education and treatment. Oregon received in 2020 $133 million in total revenue from taxes collected on state pot sales. Ballot measure 110 provides that whatever is left over from pot tax revenue would go to fund rehab centers connected with drug-related citations. Expecting state pot tax revenue to keep rising, the drug rehab industry would be well-funded into the indefinite future. “In the future as Oregon’s treatment programs reach full funding, the state should evaluate what other services would benefit from our continually growing marijuana tax revenues,” said John Larson, President of Oregon Education Association.
State Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Or.), chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Ballot Measure 110, expects Oregon’s cannabis tax revenues to continue rising exponentially over the years, providing a permanent funding mechanism for drug rehab services. Larson expects Oregon’s sales of its organic, potent marijuana to continue rising, leaving the Drug Treatment and Recovery Services Fund “over-saturated with revenue,” said Prozanski. “It would be foolish for us as a Legislature to think that the voters would want us to put hundreds upon hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollar into a program that would be, at that, point I would think, having a gold standard,” in recovery services. Oregon State Rep. Leslie Sutton wants the overflow revenue from pot tax to go to public housing and job assistance, providing long-term stability to Oregon residents struggling with addiction.
Oregon has been in the forefront of decriminalizing marijuana possession in 1973, 50 years ahead of most other states, including California. Oregon legalized marijuana in 2014 but has no plans, according to Sutton, of legalizing hard drugs like heroin, methamphetamine or cocaine. Two -dozen district attorneys around the state opposed Ballot Measure 110, saying it would make dangerous drug use more acceptable around the state. Sutton expects about 3,700 less Oregonians to be processed by the criminal justice system, according to estimates by the Oregon Criminal Justice Committee. Ballot Measure 110 expects to end the disparity in drug-related arrests between whites and other racial and ethnic minorities. Ballot measure 110 includes LSD, cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, methadone, oxycodone and MDMA [Ecstacy], covering a wide range of commonly abused drugs.
Oregon’s Ballot Measure 110 mirrors other decriminalization laws passed in Portugal, the Netherlands and Switzerland which have seen no surge in drug abuse and more access to drug rehab. For states slow to catch on, Oregon has witnessed a nearly 600% increase in marijuana-related tax revenues since 2016. States currently running out of cash from the Covid-19 crisis should heed Oregon’s experience seeing a steady increase in tax revenues from medical and recreational pot sales. Oregon’s Ballot Measure 110 provides rock-solid funding for rehab service, expecting to fund housing for homelessness and job assistance, something badly needed in times or recession. Ending the government “war on drugs” was the most humanitarian thing to do for current drug users, but, more importantly for the future, reducing cost of incarceration and using human resources more wisely.
