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SR editorial: Defelonization, profiling bill a milestone for Oregon

The new law also expands access to drug treatment for people who need health care more than social retribution In what was a contentious and often disappointing 2017 state legislative session, one measure stands out as a monumental benchmark. HB 2355, sig ...

14 Jul 2017 - SR editorial board
SR editorial: Revamp Oregon’s destructive drug laws

House Bill 2355 would defelonize low-level possession charges, emphasize public health The travesty of the so-called war on drugs plays on a constant loop, destroying lives, families and communities, and starting over with each generation. It continues, s ...

6 Apr 2017 - SR editorial board
Oregonians favor softer penalties for drug users

Poll finds widespread support among voters for defelonizing simple drug possession As lawmakers in Salem consider a bill to make possession of illicit drugs a misdemeanor rather than a felony, a statewide poll of Oregon voters reveals widespread support a ...

9 Mar 2017 - Emily Green
End the disastrous drug war and focus on healing

COMMENTARY | We're ready for a new vision for public safety and justice The war on drugs is over! How many times over the past 25 years have I wished I could say that, just to know how it would feel to have one of America’s most tragic experiments wi ...

3 Nov 2016 - Andy Ko
SR editorial: Canada’s policy on heroin another lesson for U.S.

War on drugs has failed to protect Americans' health, welfare; it's time to ditch the taboo It’s been nearly 100 years since the U.S. sent heroin underground, banning the sale of what was, at the time, a marginalized opiate. In the time since, h ...

15 Sep 2016 - SR editorial board
The multibillion-dollar immigrant detention industry

The criminalization of improper border crossings costs taxpayers billions but does little to stifle the flow of illegal immigrants In April, members of the immigrant advocacy group Enlace rallied on the doorsteps of U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s Portland office. ...

21 Jul 2016 - Emily Green
Where Oregon stands in the drug war

As other states move to defelonize drug possession, Oregon still has harsh marijuana laws on the books. Drug Policy Alliance’s Ellen Flenniken discusses drug reform in our state and worldwide. Ellen Flenniken grew up in the small, rural town of Brenham, a ...

19 May 2016 - Emily Green
ACLU’s David Rogers: Communities divided by politics of fear

The new ACLU of Oregon director also sounds the alarm on pending ballot measures, digital privacy, criminal justice As a child, watching the “CBS Evening News” was routine for David Rogers. Each night, his family gathered around a television set in their ...

21 Jan 2016 - Emily Green
How an ex-prosecutor became one of Oregon's fiercest drug-legalization advocates

Inge Fryklund talks about U.S. soldiers caught in Afghanistan’s poppy wars As a Chicago prosecutor in the 1980s, Inge Fryklund witnessed drug prohibition play out in the American courtroom. Decades later, as an adviser to U.S. military deploying to Iraq a ...

24 Sep 2015 - Emily Green
Johann Hari: 'the biggest moral issue about the war on drugs'

Killing is inevitable when drug market is controlled by criminals rather than regulators, argues author of ‘Chasing the Scream’ After spending a hundred years and a trillion dollars fighting the war on drugs, there’s one thing we know for certain: Prohibi ...

20 Aug 2015 - Emily Green