(PatriotPostNews.com) – Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek has ended Oregon’s decriminalization experiment by signing a bill that re-classifies small drug possession as a criminal offense.
The change occurred on Monday, April 1, bringing an end to the historical first in testing how decriminalizing the possession of small portions of drugs would impact drug-related offenses. Kotek’s signature upends certain portions of a 2020 passed ballot measure that relaxed punishment for drug possession.
House Bill 4002 now states that “personal use possession” is considered a misdemeanor, potentially resulting in a six-month prison stint.
The legislation also includes opportunities for criminal punishments to be replaced by treatment programs in an effort to urge law enforcement to help addicted citizens get help from mental health and addiction organizations instead of putting them in jail.
Kotek said upon signing the bill that “deep coordination” must occur between legal, law enforcement, and mental health organizations if there is any hope of the law being effective. She described these groups as “necessary partners” who are responsible for working together to “achieve the vision” laid out by the new law.
Measure 110, approved by voters in 2020, reclassified non-commercial drug possession to a violation whose maximum penalty would be a $100 fine and instead encouraged treatment and recovery programs for offenders. Previously, personal possession was a misdemeanor punishable by one year in jail and more than a $6,000 fine.
Kotek’s new law, which will go into effect on September 1, reclassifies this type of possession as a misdemeanor but cuts the maximum prison sentence in half and still focuses on addiction rehabilitation measures.
The updated drug possession law comes three months after the governor declared downtown Portland in a state of emergency with fentanyl. Deaths from opioids have dramatically increased in recent years, with Oregon’s statistics tripling between 2019 and 2022. Many drug-related deaths amid this spike are believed to be linked to the growing amount of fentanyl appearing on the streets.
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