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Marcio José Sánchez / AP
A poll worker sorts mail-in ballots at the Duniway-Lovejoy Multnomah County Elections Building in Portland, Oregon.
Oregon has become the first state in the US to decriminalize the possession of heroin, methamphetamine, LSD, oxycodone, and other hard drugs.
Voters in Oregon also legalized the therapeutic use of hallucinogenic mushrooms, with a development period of two years.
Instead of facing criminal charges such as possible jail time, a person caught with a small amount of drugs would have the option of paying a fine of NZ $ 150 or attending new “addiction recovery centers” funded with millions of dollars. Oregon legalized marijuana tax revenue. industry.
The measure, which takes effect 30 days after the US election, completely changes the way the Oregon justice system treats those who come across quantities of hard drugs for personal use.
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“Today’s victory is a historic declaration that the time has come to stop criminalizing people for drug use,” said Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which was behind the measure. “Measure 110 is arguably the biggest blow to the drug war to date,”
Passage of the measure makes Oregon, which in 1973 became the first state to decriminalize marijuana possession, a pioneer in the United States in trying the same with hard drugs.
It may sound like a radical concept, but its supporters said that turning drug users into criminals, locking them up and loading them with criminal records that make it difficult to find housing and work, does not work.
One in 11 Oregonians is addicted to drugs, and nearly two people die every day from overdoses in the state, said the Oregon Nurses Association, the American College of Physicians of the Oregon Chapter and the Academy of Physicians of Oregon. Oregon family in support of the measure.
“We urgently need change to save families and lives,” they wrote.
Uncredited / AP
The Yes on Measure 110 campaign shows volunteers delivering boxes containing signed petitions in favor of the measure to the Oregon Secretary of State’s office in Salem in June. The measure said the possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine, LSD and other hard drugs would be decriminalized in Oregon.
About 3,700 fewer Oregonians per year will be convicted of a felony or misdemeanor for possession of controlled substances now that the measure has passed, according to estimates by the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission.
The move will likely also lead to significant reductions in racial and ethnic disparities in both convictions and arrests, said the commission, which is an official state agency.
While this approach is new in the United States, several countries, including Portugal, the Netherlands and Switzerland, have already decriminalized the possession of small amounts of hard drugs, according to the United Nations.
The decriminalization of Portugal in 2000 did not lead to an increase in drug use. Drug deaths declined, while the number of people treated for drug addiction in the country increased 20 percent between 2001 and 2008 and then leveled off, Portuguese officials said.
“This is a huge step toward a health-based approach rather than criminal punishment, and we are dedicating significant new resources to help Oregonians in need,” said Janie Gullickson, co-petitioner-in-chief of the Measure. 110.
The measure was being approved by 59 percent of the roughly 2 million votes counted so far, according to the secretary of state’s office.
Two dozen district attorneys said the move was reckless and would lead to an increase in the acceptability of dangerous drugs. Two other district attorneys, including the one for the most populous county in Oregon and including Portland, backed the measure, as did an elected district attorney.
CANNABIS PASS LEGALIZATION IN OTHER STATES
Before Wednesday’s election (NZT), Oregon was among 11 states that had legalized marijuana.
Now, several other states are following suit. Voters in Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota, and Montana passed laws allowing adult possession of weed.
Meanwhile, South Dakota and Mississippi have passed initiatives to allow medical marijuana, meaning 36 US states now allow the legal distribution of medicinal herb.
