Two years ago, Oregon passed a landmark law to decriminalize illicit hard drugs and channel hundreds of millions of dollars into drug treatment, with the hope that this approach would reduce addiction and overdoses. Yet the results so far have been dismal: Oregon still has one of the highest addiction rates in the country and fatal overdoses have increased by nearly 20 percent. And half of the addiction programs lack the capacity to meet demand due to a funding and staffing shortfall. As the first state to try this strategy, other states with soaring addiction and overdose rates are closely watching what happens—or in this case, doesn’t happen. Under the law, which makes small amounts of drugs such as heroin and cocaine punishable by civic citation and a $100 fine, which will be waived if an individual calls an addiction recovery hotline. Yet data now shows that most of the 3,000 citations issued have been ignored. Of the 16,000 people who requested services, 60 percent received “harm reduction” help such as needle exchanges and overdose medications, while about 15 percent with housing, and 12 percent were connected to peer support. While such measures are important, Oregon’s novel effort is failing because its voluntary approach does not provide any incentive or motivation for users to turn away from a life of drugs. Oregon should be praised for trying a new strategy to shift addiction from incarceration to healthcare, but it won’t be effective unless the program includes a clear and easy pathway to treatment.
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Rosenthal Center for AddictIon Studies