{"id":17219,"date":"2024-04-07T17:23:19","date_gmt":"2024-04-07T17:23:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/?p=17219"},"modified":"2024-04-23T19:03:05","modified_gmt":"2024-04-23T19:03:05","slug":"dem-gov-recriminalizes-drug-possession-despite-voter-referendum-after-overdose-deaths-crime-surge-in-oregon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/2024\/04\/dem-gov-recriminalizes-drug-possession-despite-voter-referendum-after-overdose-deaths-crime-surge-in-oregon\/","title":{"rendered":"Dem gov recriminalizes drug possession despite voter referendum after overdose deaths, crime surge in Oregon"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"single__header\">\n<header class=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"article-header__top\">\n<div class=\"article-header__social-icons sharedaddy\" data-component=\"socialShare\">\n<p>By <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">\u00a0<\/span>Ryan King. <span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Published April 2, 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-header__meta\" aria-label=\"Byline\">\n<div class=\"date meta meta--byline\" aria-label=\"Date published\/updated\">\n<div class=\"date--updated__item\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>The high times are over in Oregon.<\/strong><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"single__content entry-content m-bottom \">\n<p>Democratic\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/03\/23\/us-news\/ny-dems-liken-bill-decriminalizing-drugs-to-disaster-oregon-law\/\">Gov. Tina Kotek\u00a0<\/a>signed legislation Monday to<a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/03\/02\/us-news\/oregon-lawmakers-pass-bill-to-recriminalize-drug-possession\/\">\u00a0recriminalize the possession of small amounts of certain drugs<\/a>\u00a0as the state grapples with a major overdose crisis, ending a legalization experiment backed by voters four years ago.<\/p>\n<p>The new law makes keeping drugs such as heroin or methamphetamine a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. It also enables police to confiscate the drugs and crack down on their use on sidewalks and in parks.<\/p>\n<p>Back in 2020, voters backed\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/politics\/2020\/11\/oregon-decriminalizes-possession-of-street-drugs-becoming-first-in-nation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Measure 110<\/a>, which made minor possession of personal-use amounts of certain drugs a non-criminal violation on par with a traffic ticket.<\/p>\n<p>It took effect in February 2021, making Oregon the first state to officially decriminalize minor drug possession. Since then, the Beaver State has seen a significant uptick in homelessness, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregonlive.com\/crime\/2023\/01\/portlands-101-homicides-in-2022-set-new-record-at-some-point-we-have-to-be-tired-of-burying-our-children.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">homicides<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregon.gov\/oha\/PH\/PREVENTIONWELLNESS\/SUBSTANCEUSE\/OPIOIDS\/Documents\/quarterly_opioid_overdose_related_data_report.pdf\">overdose deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>In 2020, unintentional opioid overdose deaths clocked in at 472 and hit at least 628 in 2023,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.oregon.gov\/oha\/PH\/PREVENTIONWELLNESS\/SUBSTANCEUSE\/OPIOIDS\/Documents\/quarterly_opioid_overdose_related_data_report.pdf\">according to state data.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In 2022, Portland set a new record for murders with 101 \u2014 breaking the mark of 92 set the previous year.\u00a0Back in January, Kotek declared a fentanyl state of emergency in the city, saying at the time: \u201cOur country and our state have never seen a drug this deadly and addictive, and all are grappling with how to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new law, which will take effect Sept. 1, will let local law enforcement decide whether to give violators the chance to pursue treatment before booking them into jail .<\/p>\n<p>Another bill Kotek signed Monday, Senate Bill 5204, allocates $211 million to mobilize resources for behavioral health and education programs, including expanded access to substance abuse treatment and prevention education.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSuccess of this policy framework hinges on the ability of implementing partners to commit to deep coordination at all levels,\u201d Kotek emphasized in a letter to legislative leaders.<\/p>\n<p>The governor further called on the Department of Corrections to ensure a \u201cconsistent approach for supervision when an individual is released\u201d from detention and to \u201cexhaust non-jail opportunities for misdemeanor sanctions.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"nyp-slideshow-modal-image wp-block-image aligncenter size-large\"><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2024\/04\/02\/us-news\/oregon-recriminalizes-drugs-after-upswing-in-overdose-deaths\/\">Oregon recriminalizes drugs after upswing in overdose deaths (nypost.com)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By \u00a0Ryan King. Published April 2, 2024. The high times are over in Oregon. Democratic\u00a0Gov. Tina Kotek\u00a0signed legislation Monday to\u00a0recriminalize the possession of small amounts of certain drugs\u00a0as the state grapples with a major overdose crisis, ending a legalization experiment backed by voters four years ago. The new law makes keeping drugs such as heroin [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32,82,89,64,104,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17219","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-crime-violence-prison","category-economic","category-environment-drug-politics","category-health","category-political-sector","category-social-affairs"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17219","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17219"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17219\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drugprevent.org.uk\/ppp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}