An Oregon bill to reinstate criminal penalties for hard drugs is heading to Gov. Tina Kotek’s (D) desk. HB 4002 will, if signed, upend a 2020 voter initiative to decriminalize possession of small amounts of fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and other drugs.
The news comes three years after residents voted (58%) to decriminalize hard drugs—the first and only state to do so. Instead, possession was met with a $100 fine or the option to enter treatment. However, drug-related deaths in Oregon have since skyrocketed, on track to surpass 1,250 people last year and up 42% year-over-year in September, compared to a nationwide 2%.
Those supporting decriminalization still point to research failing to show an immediate correlation between drug law and overdose fatality rates. If the bill is signed, possession will be punishable by up to 180 days in jail, with options to be redirected to treatment facilities.
The news in Oregon comes as the popularity of decriminalization wanes (support for undoing the law is around 56%). Meanwhile, a recent poll found 40% of voters in Portland list homelessness as their primary concern.
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Keep the stoned and stupid, then import millions of illegal aliens to replace them.
It’s About Time!!!
@ Dennis Barton = I don’t know but, it looks like New York is learning the Prosecution/Bail thingy a bit faster than the rest of the Blue States……LOL. The Problem they are having is, trying to repeal their Laws so as NOT to make it look like THEY were Wrong. GOD FORBID that they ever have to admit that THEY were Wrong or that TRUMP was Right.
So…the learning curve for the moron left to learn drugs are bad for years is four years. Other dumbass policies like open borders, filthy books in school libraries and not prosecution criminals may take longer.
If you are gonna be stupid…you gotta be tough. haha