PORTLAND, Ore. — The Oregon House of Representatives approved a bill Thursday in a 51-7 vote that will effectively end drug decriminalization in the state as established by 2020's Measure 110. The bill now moves on to the state Senate.
Since well before the 2024 legislative session began, a bipartisan and bicameral group of lawmakers has been working on legislation meant to address Oregon's drug crisis and inadequate treatment infrastructure, both strained to the brink by the influx of powerful drugs like fentanyl. With that crisis continuing unabated, policymakers decided that Measure 110 as approved by voters was failing to meet the needs of the moment.
The result, after considerable public testimony and debate, was House Bill 4002, which would dismantle the decriminalization of simple drug possession that Measure 110 began and build something new in its place — a system that could look entirely different between Oregon counties.
Though Democrats on the special drug policy committee led the charge on drafting the HB 4002, Republicans and critics of Measure 110 were among the first to crow about its passage and the compromises made along the way.
"We worked closely with law enforcement to force Democrats to come to the table and give our public safety officers the tools they need to hold people accountable," said House Republican Leader Jeff Helfrich, a retired Portland police sergeant, in a statement. "More must be done to root out corruption, fully fund treatment instead of activism, and further strengthen criminal justice accountability, but we’ve gotten this far because Republicans stood firm on recriminalization.”
The Coalition to Fix and Improve Ballot Measure 110, a well-heeled political group that threatened to gather signatures on its own drug policy initiative if lawmakers didn't take action first, said that it would stand down if HB 4002 and its companion legislation are signed into law.
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"A law that achieves 85% of what we proposed now is well worth the lives and communities that will be saved sooner rather than waiting for the passage and implementation of a ballot measure over a year from now," the group said in a statement.
House Democrats celebrated the bill as a step toward addressing Oregon's drug and addiction crisis, one that supplies law enforcement with tools they've been missing for the last few years.
“We have incredible people doing incredible things in our communities in all parts of our state,” said Rep. Jason Kropf (D-Bend), who co-chaired the committee. “With this bill and connected investments, we’re supporting them and helping to significantly expand their ongoing work, to move us into the next phase of our long-term commitment to establishing a sustainable treatment infrastructure that can efficiently get people from crisis to stability.”
But a coalition that has opposed the legislature's proposals to overhaul Measure 110, Oregonians for Safety & Recovery, referred to the bill's passage as a grave error by lawmakers.
"They voted for a bill that will increase racial disparities in Oregon and disparities between counties, allow police and prosecutors to decide who gets treatment and who gets jail, convict thousands more people for personal possession, and overwhelm the court system, while failing to address the state’s addiction crisis," the coalition said in a statement. "HB 4002 was drafted behind closed doors, leaving out the input of Black and brown people most affected by increased police power and without being informed by the input of addiction specialists or current science on addiction."
Recriminalizing drug possession
The bill approved by lawmakers in the Oregon House on Thursday makes simple drug possession a new type of crime, a "drug enforcement misdemeanor." Someone convicted of this crime would initially get probation for a maximum of 18 months instead of serving jail time. If the person then violated their probation, they could be sanctioned with a jail sentence up to 30 days. For a more serious violation, the court could revoke probation and hand the person a six-month jail sentence.
Even after getting sent to jail on the probation violation or revocation, someone convicted of possession could secure early release to attend either inpatient or outpatient drug treatment. Violating the terms of that release would likely result in a return to jail for the remainder of the original six-month jail sentence.
But a significant piece of the bill — one that's entirely optional for county prosecutors and law enforcement agencies to adopt — would see drug possession dealt with outside of the court system. Instead of subjecting someone in possession of drugs to arrest or prosecution, a "deflection program" would see law enforcement refer the person to a behavioral health program, one offering "community-based pathways to treatment, recovery support services, housing, case management or other services."
So far, 23 of Oregon's 36 counties have expressed interest in creating a deflection program.
Advocates for criminal justice reform who are critical of HB 4002 argue that deflection programs will be too little, too late for many Oregonians. While criminal penalties for simple drug possession would return on Sept. 1 of this year if the bill is signed into law, it will be 18 months before state officials establish best practices for deflection programs. The bill itself is vague about what these programs should look like.
At least some counties will opt against creating a deflection program entirely, meaning these drug possession misdemeanors will again be handled by cops and courts, albeit under HB 4002's new procedures.
While drug recriminalization makes up the core of HB 4002, there are a number of other provisions in the lengthy bill. It would also change state law in response to court decisions that law enforcement officials claim have made it more difficult to prove that someone is dealing drugs, and increase jail sentences for people who sell drugs near parks, treatment centers and homeless shelters.
The bill includes a number of other provisions to either provide funding or study gaps in access to treatment, especially for Oregon youth. It also attempts to increase access to medication that can treat opioid use disorders, and expands welfare holds for mental health or intoxication from 48 to 72 hours.
A companion bill, House Bill 5204, would provide $211 million for "shovel-ready" projects meant to expand the behavioral health workforce and access to treatment, education and prevention programs, drug courts, the deflection programs and public defenders. It also passed the House with overwhelming support Thursday.
The remains of Measure 110
While HB 4002 does roll back drug decriminalization, it does not represent a full repeal of Measure 110. The other major pillar of the measure, using Oregon's cannabis tax funds to support drug treatment and outreach organizations, remains functionally intact.
While those funds were slow to roll out as the fledgling Measure 110 program got on its feet, it's unquestionably made strides since 2022 in standing up or expanding available resources for addiction recovery services throughout the state. It's now distributed at least $265 million in grants throughout Oregon.
In the bill that Republican lawmakers championed, the Measure 110 funding model would have been completely dismantled and rebuilt outside of the Oregon Health Authority. Democrats decided to leave this aspect of the law alone.
However, HB 4002 also conspicuously keeps around one aspect of the treatment side of Measure 110 that has thus far been particularly unproductive. Under the original law, the Oregon Health Authority was required to set up a telephone hotline for people seeking help with addiction. Calling that number was supposed to be an option for drug users who were handed a Class E violation for drug possession to avoid a $100 fine.
Even with those Class E violations as a motivator, call volume for the Measure 110 helpline has been extremely low. From its creation up to early December 2023, the line had only received about 100 calls from people who'd received citations, The Oregonian reported last week.
An audit examining the early days of Oregon's Measure 110 rollout estimated that in its first year, the helpline cost more than $7,000 per call.
Beginning Dec. 7, the Oregon Health Authority hired a new company to operate the helpline, with The Oregonian noting that it cost the state $871,000 for just the first three months of an 18-month contract, and will cost almost $130,000 a month after that.
HB 4002 does not touch the Measure 110 helpline, even though it does away with the Class E violations for drug possession that were supposed to drive calls toward it.
Lines for Life, the original contractor for the Measure 110 helpline, operates an Alcohol and Drug Helpline in Oregon that far predates the Measure 110 line. It also receives significantly more calls.