Oregon must keep soft heroin laws despite soaring overdose rates: proponents
Oregon's trailblazing drug decriminalization law has come under fire amid a slow rollout and rise in overdose deaths. But proponents say much of the criticism is unfair.
A majority of Oregon voters believe its law to decriminalize drugs should be repealed, according to an August poll.
Emerson College poll of 1,000 registered Oregon voters found that 56% support a complete repeal of Measure 110, a ballot initiative that decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs such as heroin, meth and fentanyl. The measure, which made possession punishable by a maximum $100 fine, passed in 2020 with 58% of voters backing it.
A Portland-area drug and alcohol counselor said voters were misled about the reasons behind Measure 110.
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"It is part of a radicalized social justice movement that gives a person a right to use known as bodily autonomy," Kevin Dahlgren told Fox News. "It has very little to do with helping a person recover."
"It is about a person having the right to do anything they want without consequences," he added.
Oregon is the only state where personal use amounts of most hard drugs are decriminalized.
Gov. Tina Kotek signed a law in July creating a misdemeanor charge for people who posses between 1 and 5 grams of fentanyl, the deadliest drug in the state. Possession of five to 24 pills was also made a misdemeanor that can carry a year jail sentence.
Two milligrams of fentanyl is enough to cause a fatal overdose, according to the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Oregon lawmakers passed a bill criminalizing possession of a gram or more of fentanyl last month. (Gary Coronado / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
A majority of most racial groups also supported a full repeal of Measure 110, including about two-thirds of Hispanics or Latinos and African Americans alike and just over half of White voters, according to the Emerson College poll. Less than half of Asian American or Pacific Islanders voters surveyed were in favor of repeal, but nearly 71% of multiracial voters wanted Measure 110 reversed.
"The truth has finally been exposed and thankfully now a majority of Oregonians support its repeal," Dahlgren said. "Common sense is returning and gives me hope we can slow the spread of this epidemic."
A Portland-based trial attorney, Kristin Olson, previously expressed similar sentiments.
"Oregon has turned into an international spectacle and I think we looked at each other and realize that we made an enormous mistake," Olson, who voted in favor of the ballot initiative, told Fox News in May.
Overdoses in Oregon increased by 4.58% from November 2021 to November 2022, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (REUTERS/Nikolay Doychinov (BULGARIA))
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An even larger majority of voters — nearly two-thirds — supported repealing parts of Measure 110 to restore penalties for possessing drugs, according to the poll. Only 36% said it should be left as is.
The poll, released Aug. 23, also found that 54% of voters believe Measure 110 increased homelessness in their communities, while 50% said the measure makes communities much less safe.
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Overdoses in Oregon increased between November 2021 to November 2022 by nearly 4.58%, surpassing the national average by over sevenfold, according to preliminary estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Tents and a wheelchair cover a sidewalk in downtown Portland on Feb. 17, 2023. 54% of Oregon voters believe Measure 110 increased homelessness in their communities. (Hannah Ray Lambert/Fox News Digital)
"I don't think Oregonians want to restart the drug war," Olson added. "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."
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When polled on how drug decriminalization impacts their decision at the ballot box, 41% of respondents said they were more likely to vote for a lawmaker if they vote to repeal the measure, while 33% said they would be less inclined and 25% said such a vote would have no impact.
The poll consists of data collected between Aug. 8-9 and has a 3% margin of error.
Hannah Ray Lambert contributed to the accompanying video.