Three years ago, Oregon voters approved Measure 110 which decriminalized certain drug possessions and set up widespread addiction treatment systems.
Today, there are groups, especially business organizations and law enforcement personnel, who think the Measure was a mistake and that it needs to be repealed.
However, a comprehensive study that looked at Measure 110 and compared Oregon to 13 other states and found that while drug offenses and overdoses are on the rise in our state, those other states without a measure 110 policy saw the same level of increase. So now, there is a fierce debate in Oregon about how we should proceed with drug policy.
On this edition of Oregon On The Record, we talked with authoritative voices about the debate of Measure 110.
· We talked with Representative Jason Kropf, who’s leading a statewide committee to look into Measure 110 and other Oregon drug policies.
· We spoke with Alexander Lavake, who leads Lane County Public Health’s program to evaluate the impacts of fentanyl on our streets.
· We heard from professor Corey Davis a lead author of the study into Measure 110 and found it had little to do with our state’s rise in drug overdoses.
· We had a discussion with Eugene Police Officer Brad Hanneman, who see’s firsthand what impact fentanyl and other drugs are having in our community.
· And we talked with Morgan Godwin, a former addict and inmate who is now clean and sober and helping the state evaluate programs to help those with drug addiction.
In all, determining the efficacy of Measure 110 is a very complicated issue, but Oregon and almost every other state is trying to find ways to both police the illicit drug problem while finding ways to help those in the grip of addiction.
