Friend, last week I shared why we at DPA do this vital work to end the drug war. It's because we have all been touched by its harms in some way. Supporters like you also know this is personal and help us tell the stories that power our fight to end the drug war and do what’s right.
Sadly, much of the reporting hasn’t been accurate on drug decriminalization in Oregon. Many stories spread fear, lies, and misinformation rather than facts. Media, politicians, and drug war defenders are trying to sell the public on the false promise that the solution is simple — that criminalization will be a “quick fix” to the suffering we see in our communities. But criminalization has never and will never work.
Fortunately, you are helping us tell the full story. Please check out How Oregon Became a Linchpin for the Country’s Drug Policies, the latest from Maia Szalavitz in today’s New York Times.
And spread the word by sharing it on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Maia Szalavitz is one of few reporters who gets it right. She cuts through misinformation that has dominated headlines: “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...Repealing decriminalization would be a mistake.”
Drug decriminalization in Oregon via Measure 110 did not create public suffering that people are concerned about. Homelessness increased due to a lack of housing and eviction. Overdose deaths surged due to fentanyl saturating the drug supply, which is exactly what happened when it appeared everywhere else. In fact, “Every region across the country shows a nearly identical skyrocketing death toll when fentanyl saturates its market—regardless of whether it’s a tough-on-crime state like Texas, or a progressive bastion like California.”
We can’t blame a local policy for national issues. Yet that’s what lawmakers, talking heads, and drug war defenders are doing to double down on the failed drug war. Today, Oregon’s session began, and legislators could recriminalize drugs in a matter of weeks.
Missing from the stories are Measure 110’s positive impacts:
- It provided over $300 million for addiction services and social supports. The number of people accessing these services has increased dramatically, including a 143% increase in substance use disorder treatment and 296% increase in housing services.
- Arrests for low-level possession significantly declined after decriminalization took effect (here and here), saving thousands of Oregonians from being arrested and saddled with criminal records that create lifelong barriers to jobs, housing, education, and so much more.
- And no longer arresting, incarcerating, and supervising people for drug possession has saved nearly $40 million from reduced criminal legal system costs and reinvested it into addiction services and social supports.
We can’t let them go backward. Lawmakers must advocate for real solutions to public suffering: increasing street outreach, creating community-led crisis-response teams, increasing access to evidence-based treatment, and allowing overdose prevention centers (which brings drug use indoors and connects people to care).
We need evidence-based health approaches to drugs, not more criminalization and punishment. With your support, we are doing everything we can to spread the facts and fight against a potential setback in Oregon. Share the New York Times story to help us do it and show your support for ending the drug war.
