OREGON
A8 — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, APRIL 7, 2022
Mixed results for Oregon’s pioneering drug decriminalization
By ANDREW SELSKY
The Associated Press
SALEM — Oregon
voters approved a ballot
measure in 2020 to decrim-
inalize hard drugs after
being told it was a way to
establish and fund addiction
recovery centers that would
off er people aid instead of
incarceration.
Yet in the fi rst year after
the new approach took eff ect
in February 2021, only 1%
of people who received cita-
tions for possessing con-
trolled substances asked for
help via a new hotline.
With Oregon being the
fi rst state in America to
decriminalize possession
of personal-use amounts
of heroin, methamphet-
amine, LSD, oxycodone and
other drugs, its program is
being watched as a potential
model for other states.
Some are questioning
whether the approach is
proving too lenient, but
others say the new system
has already had a positive
impact by redirecting mil-
lions of dollars into facili-
ties to help those with drug
dependency issues. The
funds come from taxes gen-
erated by Oregon’s legal
marijuana industry and
savings from reductions in
arrests, jail time and proba-
tion supervision.
Under Ballot Measure
110, possession of controlled
substances is now a newly
created Class E “violation,”
instead of a felony or mis-
demeanor. It carries a max-
imum $100 fi ne, which can
be waived if the person calls
a hotline for a health assess-
ment. The call can lead to
addiction counseling and
other services.
But out of roughly 2,000
citations issued by police in
the year after decriminal-
ization took eff ect, only 92
of the people who received
them called the hotline by
mid-February. And only
19 requested resources
for services, said William
Nunemann of Lines for Life,
which runs the hotline.
Almost half of those who
got citations failed to show
up in court.
State health offi cials have
reported 473 unintentional
opioid overdose deaths from
Andrew Selsky/The Associated Press
Vanessa Caudel, a nurse, sits at her work station in the Great Circle
treatment center in Salem on Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022, where she
provides doses of methadone, which can relieve the “dope sick”
symptoms a person in opioid withdrawal experiences. The center gets
funding from Oregon’s pioneering drug decriminalization law and
illustrates an aspect of the new system, one year after it took eff ect.
January to August 2021, the
most recent month for which
statistics are available, with
the vast majority of those
occurring after decriminal-
ization took eff ect. That nar-
rowly surpasses the total
for all of 2020, and is nearly
200 deaths more than the
state saw in all of 2019. The
state reports that opioid
overdose visits to emer-
gency rooms and urgent
care centers have also been
on the rise.
The Oregon Health
Authority cites as possible
reasons the greater pres-
ence of fentanyl, which has
increased overdose deaths
across the country, as well
as a downturn in reporting
during the pandemic in
2020.
Sen. Floyd Prozanski,
chair of the Oregon Senate’s
Judiciary and Ballot Mea-
sure 110 Implementation
Committee, said he’s sur-
prised more of those tick-
eted weren’t taking advan-
tage of the recovery options.
Still, he believes it’s too
early to judge how the new
approach is going.
“It’s a diff erent model,
at least for the U.S.,”
Prozanski said, adding he’d
want to wait at least another
half-year before considering
whether steps should be
introduced to compel people
to seek treatment.
Decriminalization advo-
cates argued putting drug
users in jail and giving them
criminal records, which
harms job and housing pros-
pects, was not working.
“Punishing people and
these punitive actions, all
it does is saddle them with
barriers and more stigma
and more shame,” said Tera
Hurst, executive director
of Oregon Health Justice
Recovery Alliance, which
represents more than 75
community-based organi-
zations and is focused on
implementing Measure 110.
The Drug Policy Alli-
ance spearheaded Oregon’s
ballot measure. With no
U.S. states to serve as exam-
ples, the New York-based
group, which calls itself the
leading organization in the
U.S. promoting alternatives
to the war on drugs, studied
Portugal, which decrimi-
nalized drug possession in
2000.
Portugal’s approach is
more vigorous than Ore-
gon’s in getting people to
treatment.
There, “dissuasion com-
missions” pressure anyone
caught using drugs — even
marijuana — to seek treat-
ment. Those pressure points
include fi nes, prohibiting
drug users from visiting
certain venues or from trav-
eling abroad, seizure of per-
sonal property, community
work and having to period-
ically report to health ser-
vices or other places.
Drug Policy Alli-
ance intentionally sought
an approach that did not
compel people to seek treat-
ment, said spokesperson
Matt Sutton.
“We have seen that
when people voluntarily
access services when they
are ready, they have much
more successful outcomes,”
Sutton said.
EDUCATION
Report outlines steps to make Oregon early childhood programs more inclusive
By ELIZABETH MILLER
Oregon Public Broadcasting
SALEM — According
to federal data, about 48%
of young children expe-
riencing disabilities in
Oregon receive all services
in preschools and other
early learning settings.
And according to a new
report, Oregon programs
still have a ways to go in
being fully inclusive.
“Since the Individ-
uals with Disabilities Act
was developed 30 plus
years ago, children expe-
riencing disabilities have
limited access, or are often
asked to leave care even
in preschool,” said Oregon
Department of Education
Early Childhood Coherent
Strategies Specialist Mere-
dith Villines.
“So we’re hoping to
change that.”
Oregon, along with
Illinois, was awarded a
national grant to help
create a framework for
what inclusion should look
like in early learning pro-
grams. This fi rst of what’s
intended to be an annual
report released Thursday,
March 31, the Oregon
Early Childhood Inclu-
sion report outlines Ore-
gon’s progress, starting
with making sure certain
indicators are met across
the state.
“The indicators that
we’re really focused on are
those cross-sector collab-
orative teams, and really
creating and funding pro-
fessional development sup-
ports for everyone who is
engaged in the care and
education of young children
experiencing disabilities,”
Villines said.
The report says Oregon
is showing improvement,
in terms of statewide indi-
cators including policies,
funding, and sharing new
guidance.
The Senior Leader-
ship Team “has devel-
oped a cross‐sector team,
increased understanding of
early learning policies and
current guidance aff ecting
inclusion of children experi-
encing disability, reviewed
the current allocation of
resources to support pro-
fessionals in early care and
education, and developed
a snapshot of the coordina-
tion of professional devel-
opment resources for those
serving young children
experiencing disability,”
over a 20-month period
between February 2020 and
October 2021, according to
a self-assessment.
Three Oregon counties
pointed out in the report
also show progress in
meeting community indi-
cators including building
awareness and providing
access to training. As part
of the pilot project, com-
munity inclusion teams in
Multnomah, Clackamas
and Lincoln counties meet
monthly to work towards
making early learning
programs in their com-
munity more inclusive,
serving as a model for other
communities.
“We’re hoping to provide
technical assistance support
so those communities can
partner with other mem-
bers of their community to
problem solve and come up
with innovative solutions
to this complex problem,”
Villines said.
Going forward, the three
counties plan to “sustain
funding and scale inclusive
practices.”
The counties have also
set goals to bring more chil-
dren experiencing disabili-
ties into programs: to 30%
in Lincoln County, to 60%
in Multnomah County, to
65% in Clackamas County
by 2023.
The next annual report,
Villines said, will likely
highlight scenes inside edu-
cational settings.
“What’s next is seeing
the on-the-ground work,
the impacts on programs
and how they have been
working together in this
similar cross-sector fashion,
and the impact in the class-
rooms,” Villines said.
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