As the war on drugs continues, the election marked a milestone for states like Oregon, fighting for decriminalization or even legalization of hard drugs. As of most recently, with the acceptance of Measure 110, Oregon decriminalized the possession of small amounts of cocaine, methamphetamine, and heroin, which reduces the penalties for the possession of more massive amounts of drugs.
Executive Director of the advocacy group Drug Policy Alliance, Kassandra Frederique, states that “passage of the measure showed that voters were eager for a new approach on drug policy to handle it as a health issue and prioritize treatment.”
According to the Washington Post, the most notable drug is marijuana and its legalization by states like Arizona, Montana, and New Jersey for recreational use, unlike Mississippi, which legalized it for medical use.
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That same Oregon proposal would also tax marijuana sales and allocate it toward drug rehabilitation centers. Frederique stated that “We have been criminalizing people for at least 50 years, and what we know is that it hasn’t gotten us any closer to having our loved ones get the care that they need at the scale that it requires,” and that criminalizing drugs has not functioned as a deterrent.
New York Times writer Kirk Johnson expresses that the proposal “would be one of the most radical drug-law overhauls in the nation’s history, eliminating criminal penalties entirely for personal use amounts of drugs such as heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine.”
However, the use of psilocybin or “magic mushrooms” in Oregon would also be used for medical treatment because “Studies have shown that psilocybin could be used to treat major depressive disorders, according to the National Institutes of Health.”
Opponents of the decriminalization of drugs argue that if the threat of criminal charges is removed, addicts would be less incentivized to seek treatment.
Johnathan Reiss for Rolling Stone states that Oregon’s Measure 110 states that “Going forward, a person caught with a non-commercial amount will receive a fine of up to $100, a fee they can forego if they opt to seek treatment.”
Kevin Sabet, the founder of Smart Approaches to Marijuana, argues that “Legalization can empower people to abuse drugs without fearing legal jeopardy,” and that “The threat of criminal prosecution can be a powerful incentive for people to seek treatment.”
In the same New York Times article, the champion of Measure 110 in Oregon, Peter Zuckerman, argues that “Drug addiction is a health issue; it deserves a health response.”
Montana’s proposals would allocate half of the tax revenue towards public lands and “has brought in powerful new political allies, including the Montana Wildlife Federation and the Trust for Public Lands, both of which have signed on as supporters.”
Another reason that supporters rally behind the legalization of drugs in New Jersey is that it would “save tens of millions of dollars and allows police officers to focus on more serious public safety threats.”
It remains unclear whether the production and sale of drugs would continue to be criminalized. Nevertheless, hard drugs continue to remain illegal under federal law, but Oregon could set a precedent for other states and the federal government’s position on marijuana legalization.
