We decriminalized drugs. Let that sink in.
Once Measure 110 is implemented, those who use drugs will no longer live in fear of arrest, jail or prison for the simple act of using or possessing a small amount of a controlled substance.
This is monumental. And, as we embark on this experiment, the nation will be watching.
SR ENDORSEMENT: Why we endorsed Measure 110
One measure of our success will be whether the rate of substance use disorder increases or decreases. To that end, decriminalization must come with robust access to treatment for people suffering from drug and alcohol addiction, ongoing support for people in recovery and resources aimed at prevention. Oregon has long failed in these areas. So much so, lawmakers established an Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission in 2009 to find a way to fix it.
After more than a decade of doing next to nothing, this commission was revamped and reenergized after the Legislature passed a bill aimed at forcing it to do its job in 2018. Under the wing of a new director, Dr. Reginald Richardson, and under pressure from a new and influential lobbying network of people in recovery from substance use disorder, Oregon Recovers, the commission finally put out a strategic plan aimed at strengthening Oregon’s treatment and recovery system. It was approved in the short session earlier this year.
This comprehensive plan already lays out much of what voters may have envisioned when they voted to approve Measure 110, redirecting marijuana tax dollars in excess of $45 million toward alcohol and drug treatment screening and funding.
In part, the ambitious plan seeks to:
Better coordinate a complicated system where 13 different state agencies have their hands in substance use disorder-related programming
Provide strategies for increasing access to treatment and recovery through early intervention, improved case management and expanded use of peer mentors
Address health disparities by outlining strategies for ensuring access to culturally tailored prevention, treatment and recovery services
Increase access points among schools, employers and community hubs
Incorporate cultural healing practices and alternative pain management
Invest in family- and school-based prevention
Expand the prevention workforce
While Richardson and Mike Marshall, director of Oregon Recovers, both took issue with Measure 110’s design and the failure of its authors to consult with the commission, they also both see an Oregon in which the measure can work alongside their hard-fought strategic plan with positive results.
They both believe the commission that oversees Measure 110’s implementation and the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission should be one and the same.
We agree. The last thing Oregon needs is yet another commission to replicate work that’s already underway.
One of Measure 110’s most vocal proponents, Alano Club of Portland Director Brent Canode, stopped short of agreeing Measure 110 implementation should be overseen by the commission, but said, “I think a coordinated effort is optimal. ... This is without doubt an all hands on deck moment for Oregon.”
We also need to ensure the important work of implementing the broader plan of addressing Oregon’s substance use issues continues.
The Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission’s partner in implementing the strategic plan is the Oregon Health Authority, which put the plan “on pause” while it deals with a global pandemic, said Richardson. “We’re just getting back to that work now,” he said.
It would be tragic for Oregonians to pass a landmark drug law such as Measure 110 while also allowing the state’s plan for fixing the treatment and recovery system to languish.
Nor is it the time to kick the can down the road on implementing Measure 110 and the grants to fund treatment that come with it.
The pandemic has been blamed for increases in drug and alcohol use, as well as in suicides and overdoses. We need a better system of support now more than ever.
We implore the Legislature to fund a crucial next step in the state’s strategic plan during the 2021 regular session with the passage of a bill sponsored by Rep. Janeen Sollman (D-Hillsboro), who also sits on the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission. It will seek $250,000 to fund analysis of where gaps in services exist.
“We don’t have an answer for that. We’ve got to be able to answer that simple question,” Richardson said.
And until we can, just how far in funding those gaps Measure 110 will go is unknown among state health officials. What’s certain is that more funding will be needed to fully implement the strategic plan.
Rep. Tawna Sanchez’s (D-Portland) proposed Addiction Crisis and Recovery Act aims to raise those dollars though an increased tax on alcohol “across the board,” she said in a statement earlier this year.
It’s been 40 years since Oregon raised taxes on beer and wine. However, as Oregon’s brewery, bar and restaurant industries teeter on the edge, passing a new tax on alcohol now might prove politically impossible, as many critics of this plan have already argued. But if lawmakers fail to find funding, voters could be looking at another ballot measure.
A poll conducted last month by DHM Research on behalf of Oregon Recovers found 76% of Oregonians said they would support an increase in alcohol taxes to fund expanded access to drug and alcohol addiction treatment and recovery services.
Much of Measure 110 and the strategic plan’s implementation still needs to be worked out in the Legislature. If Oregonians want the result to resemble what they envisioned when they voted “yes” to decriminalizing drug usage and funding treatment, they should follow the measure’s implementation and the progression of the state’s plan to address substance use disorder — and weigh in on components that matter to them.
One way to get involved, Canode said, is to fill out a survey on the Yes on Measure 110’s campaign website. It asks respondents what aspects of the measure are important to them and what coalitions they’d be willing to join, whether it be contacting elected officials, testifying at hearings, or advocating for organizations to help with implementation.
“We know a number of committees will be formed to focus on the work ahead,” Canode said. “Where do you want to be involved?”
As Street Roots reported last week, Oregon’s spending on substance use disorder has more than quadrupled since 2005, consuming nearly 17% of the entire state budget in 2017. But, according to the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission, only about 1% of those funds were used to prevent, treat or help people recover from substance abuse. Most of the money went to covering the cost of “health and social consequences created by the lack of investment in prevention, treatment, and recovery.”
This means that while it will cost taxpayers more now, effectively addressing the addiction crisis in our state will save money down the road.
If Oregon fails to fix its broken treatment and recovery system, the passage of Measure 110 will be used as an example of why decriminalization doesn’t work — as fodder for the law-and-order camp. But, if we succeed, other states will likely follow and Oregon will have played a remarkable role in the reversal of the devastating war on drugs. It is imperative that we get this right.
Correction: This article previously indicated Brent Canode was supportive of the ADPC overseeing Measure 110 implementation. Canode has clarified that while he is supportive of a coordinated effort, he did not say the work should necessarily exist within the ADPC. We regret the error.