63 Percent in Oregon Want Drugs Criminalized Again

Oregon residents are reconsidering their vote for decriminalizing the possession of hard drugs such as fentanyl, heroin and meth after the numbers of overdoses and homeless people continue to rise, according to a recent survey.

According to DHM Research in Portland, 63% of the 500 Oregonians surveyed said they want to reinstate criminal punishment for people in possession of drugs, but to keep funding treatment programs.

"I don't think Oregonians want to restart the drug war," said Portland-based trial attorney Kristin Olson. "I think we didn't realize that what we were signing up for was the deterioration of civilized norms and the public spaces being ceded to people in late-stage drug addiction and engaged in all sorts of criminal activity to keep that addiction going."

Olson added that the state has become an "international spectacle" and residents are starting to realize they made an "enormous mistake" when they voted to pass the state's Measure 110 in 2020 to decriminalize drugs.

Meanwhile, more than 60% of the voters surveyed by DHM said the vote to decriminalize drugs has made crime, addiction and homelessness worse.

All age demographics surveyed supported bringing back criminal penalties for possession, but support among 18- to 29-year-olds was lowest, at 51%. Republicans, at 80%, were the most supportive of bringing back the penalties.

Measure 110 also redirected a portion of the state's marijuana tax revenue away from schools and local government and toward harm reduction efforts such as overdose prevention. However, an Oregon Health and Science University study found that treatment has become hard to get in the state. A recent audit of the state Health Authority also showed that the agency could not give any data that shows how hundreds of millions of dollars tagged for addiction services had been spent.

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