Oregon has reversed a former liberal drug law, but not in time to avoid losing "a generation" of people to addiction.
In fact, the state's decision to recriminalize drugs is just the first of many needed actions, says State House Republican leader Jeff Helfrich. The new law, reversing the 2020 decriminalization, took effect Sunday, according to the NY Post and Fox News.
The new law, HB 4002, introduces stricter penalties for selling drugs in public and classifies personal drug possession as a misdemeanor. Addiction and drug-related deaths surged after Oregon's 2020 decriminalization, which was approved by 58% of voters.
Helfrich said on Fox this week: “You saw overdose deaths, you saw drug usage on the street, crime, homelessness all soared after Democrats put this policy in place. And they could have stopped it, but they didn’t.”
“Unfortunately, because we decriminalized it for those few years, we’ve lost a generation, I believe, of people because of these drugs. And you don’t get to have those times anymore,” he continued.
“People can’t even go into public and take their kids to the park because they’re dealing with the death, they’re dealing with drug use, dealing with all those bad things that are happening. And this is just horrible policies.”
Under the new law, individuals caught with small amounts of drugs like fentanyl, heroin, or meth can choose between facing possession charges or entering a treatment program, which requires completing a behavioral health program to avoid fines.
The report says that the new law will help police tackle widespread public drug use in parts of Oregon, says Portland police chief Bob Day. Offenders opting for treatment to avoid charges must meet strict criteria: no other charges, warrants, violent behavior, and be medically stable.
Despite the statewide implementation, Jeff Helfrich believes more action is needed to address the drug crisis.
“It’s unfortunate that you have these mega-donors around the nation that use Oregon as the petri dish and experiment to try to create this world of utopia, and you can’t do it. We need more Republicans [in] charge to fix this problem," Helfrich concluded, according to the NY Post/Fox News report.
