Drug Possession Becomes Illegal Again in Oregon as Decriminalization Law Expires

People protest against open drug use in parks outside City Hall in Grants Pass, Ore., on March 20, 2024. AP Photo/Jenny Kane

Oregon’s experiment with drug decriminalization came to an end on Sept. 1, with a law now in effect that re-criminalizes the possession of small amounts of certain drugs in the state.

The law, HB 4002, passed in March, makes the possession of drugs such as fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine for personal use in Oregon a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail.

It enables police to address drug use in public areas and makes it easier to prosecute people who sell drugs. The bill also establishes ways for treatment to be offered as an alternative to criminal penalties.

Law enforcement officers are “encouraged, but not required” to refer individuals to a “deflection program,” diverting them to addiction and mental health services instead of arresting them for misdemeanor drug possession.

The Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) has raised concerns about the law, stating that it “treats addiction and the overdose crisis as criminal problems” rather than health issues.

The nonprofit organization also highlighted that the default response to drug possession will likely be arrest because most counties have not yet set up deflection programs.

“A return to criminalization means that instead of connections to services or treatment, people struggling with substance use will be forced into an ill-equipped, complicated criminal legal system with a shortage of public defenders,” Lindsay LaSalle, DPA’s managing director of policy, said in an Aug. 30 statement.

“They will likely return to the street in worse shape under the same circumstances and likely get arrested again,” LaSalle stated.

HB 4002 was signed into law by Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek in April. In a letter to lawmakers on Apr. 1, Kotek said the success of the policy framework depends on the implementing partners’ ability “to commit to deep coordination at all levels.”

“I strongly encourage the inclusion of all implementing parties as a part of the design of deflection programs authorized by House Bill 4002,” the governor stated.

Measure 110

The previous bill, Measure 110 which passed with 58 percent support in 2020, was the first law in the nation to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs by reducing drug possession from a misdemeanor to a civil violation, punishable by up to a $100 fine or a health assessment.

This bill redirected more than $100 million in annual grant funding from state cannabis tax revenue to expand access to addiction treatment services. It first went into effect in February 2021.

The Oregon Health Authority said last year that over 60,000 people received services during “the earliest phases” of the bill’s implementation. A state audit revealed last year an increase in fentanyl use and drug overdoses in Oregon.

“Controversial from the start, M110 attracted more scrutiny when funding of services was delayed and decriminalization took effect amid an explosion in fentanyl use,” Oregon Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade said in a December 2023 report.

According to the report, the number of fentanyl pills seized in Oregon, and Idaho’s high-intensity drug trafficking area, increased from 690 in 2018 to more than 3 million in 2022.

The report stated that fatal overdoses from opioid use in Oregon rose to 955 deaths in 2022, compared to an average of 322 deaths per year in the five years before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Scottie Barnes contributed to this report.