Oregon decriminalized drugs; now he is doubting

Oregonians voted in 2020 to decriminalize drugs, but just three years later, many businesses, citizens and lawmakers are reconsidering amid a spike in drug overdose and drug use deaths.

More than 60% of Oregon voters polled believe that Measure 110, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs in November 2020, “has worsened drug addiction, homelessness and crime”. seconds at DHM Research and 56% of Oregon voters polled believe the measure should be repealed entirely, seconds to an Emerson College survey. A coalition of cities, police groups and prosecutors he called in the state to recriminalize drug possession, and businesses that spoke to the DCNF say they are struggling with the state's drug crisis.

“This has really spread across Oregon. It's not just a Portland problem,” Oregon House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich, a former Portland Police Bureau, told the DCNF. “It's out of control, I've never seen it this bad.”

Drug overdoses it increased in Oregon between 2020 and 2022, and nearly 3% of Portland residents left the city in the same period of time. More than 600 people died of overdoses in 2019 in Oregon, and that number is almost duplicate to 1,200 in 2022.

“The Republicans have a solution that's being offered, but it hasn't been talked about because there doesn't seem to be the will or the votes on the Democratic side,” Helfrich told the DCNF.

Oregon House Republicans asked the Legislature to address the crisis in several letters and have asked recriminalization of drug possession. Helfrich wrote a letter On November 14, Oregon Democratic Governor Tina Kotek and House Speaker Dan Rayfield called on Democrats to require drug treatment and repeal Measure 110.

“I haven't heard people in leadership across the aisle saying yes, you need to work together to fix this,” Helfrich told the DCNF.

Among voters polled in Oregon, 50% believe Measure 110 “makes the community much less safe.” seconds to an Emerson College survey. Of voters surveyed, 54 percent said Measure 110 has led to an increase in homelessness.

A 20-year Portland police officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the DCNF he's never seen it this bad.

“It's open and blatant hard drug use everywhere,” the police officer told the DCNF.

“You get calls all the time from businesses, from residents, that there are people, you know, passed out in cars in front of their houses, people blocking the entrance to their stores, people standing on the sidewalks when they're trying to go -hi. buy or take the children to school, only using and showing visible signs of drug use,” the police officer continued.

A Portland dumpster business owner said people are buying more dumpsters to store their large items so they don't get stolen.

The containers are used to store “everything from home and garden furniture, tools, automobiles, stakes, hay, grain storage” and “farm equipment.” seconds in the Clackamas container.

“It will take about two hours to get into a dumpster, but if your materials are just on your property, it will only take 20 minutes,” Clackamas dumpster owner Alan Connor told the DCNF.

Connor said some Portland businesses have suffered a loss of patronage due to drug and homelessness laws. “People can pitch tents in your front yard in Portland,” Connor told the DCNF.

The owner of Vortex Detailing, who gave the DCNF its first name, Brenton, said he avoids Portland at all costs because of the city's crime and drug use.

Some homeless residents in Salem, Oregon's capital, about 45 miles southwest of Portland, said Measure 110 has made their lives worse.

“We've lost eight to nine friends in the last two and a half years, three years if that,” Malia Saunders, a homeless Salem resident, he said KGW8, an Oregon-based outlet.

Matthew Maceira, a former homeless man who now provides care for the homeless, said Measure 110 has caused more problems for Salem.

“It's just caused damage,” Maceira told KGW8.

“It's become something I see every day in Salem. The number of people who live by the side of the road is amazing. It used to be where a few people were and I would recognize some of them, but not anymore. There are so many of them and they do drugs out in the open for all to see. Downtown Salem has become unsafe for everyone, homeless or not,” Sam Evans, former executive assistant at the Oregon Department of Transportation, told DCNF.

Portland Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler, Kotek and Rayfield did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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