…[Oregon] Measure 110…
If voters are faced with another ballot measure, Brian Renauer, chair of the Criminology and Criminal Justice at Portland State University (PSU), said they should consider the “most important component of Measure 110 is the increasing of resources for treatment opportunities for those suffering from substance use disorders that didn’t exist during the War on Drugs. So that’s the most radical, important change that I think the public should want to keep.”
He added, “We also need to address that issue of engagement. We know there’s this large population in need of treatment.” The voter-approved measure garnered the votes of 58% of Oregon voters in 2020 to not criminalize drug addiction… The question, he said, is how to get people into treatment. History would say the War on Drugs didn’t help us do that. We can point to positive examples, but overall, it was not getting enough people into treatment and those treatment opportunities didn’t exist… “So for the general public, our advice is that it’s too early to blame decriminalization for any of this sort of sense of chaos or fear, crime and disorder that they’re perceiving. There’s other factors that are related to that. And let’s give Measure 110 some more time.” If legislators don’t make amendments in February’s [2024] session, Measure 110 will at least get another year. The earliest a reform attempt could make it to your ballot is November 2024… Measure 110 supporters argue it will only shift the current bottleneck the state has in treatment to the courts. “There’s this perception in the community right now that if we recriminalize, people are going to go to jail and then to treatment or they’re going to go to jail and off the streets – and it’s not going to work that way,” Monta Knudson, the CEO of Bridges to Change said. “Folks are going to possibly get arrested, possibly go to jail, and then they’re going to be for sure released. And so it’s unfortunate because we’re on a path for change right now.” The rollout of Measure 110 was rocky, at best… there were many issues at play – an affordable housing crisis, the pandemic and more dangerous street drugs.
Original Article (Yahoo & Koin):
Does Measure 110 need ‘a combination of coercion? & Does Measure 110 need ‘a combination of coercion?
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