Updated: Feb. 25, 2024, 6:46 a.m.
Published: Feb. 25, 2024, 6:45 a.m.

The Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response holds a public hearing on Measure 110 in Salem on Feb. 8. A proposal that would recriminalize drug possession and call for counties to set up “deflection” programs to steer drug users to treatment would mark an important step in addressing the addiction crisis, the editorial board writes.

By The Oregonian Editorial Board

Perhaps it’s the adrenaline-fueled focus that a short legislative session provides. Or maybe the motivation prompted by a possible ballot measure backed by public sentiment that Measure 110, the 2020 initiative that decriminalized drug possession, was a mistake.

Or maybe it’s just the grim reality that more and more Oregonians – 1,268 adults and children for the year ending September 2023 – are dying from fentanyl overdoses and that our drug crisis is only deepening. Read more.