The COVID-19 Pandemic has disrupted justice more than any other event.
By Mia Maldonado, Oregon Capital Chronicle
Critics have been blaming the 2020 ballot initiative in Oregon that decriminalized small amounts of drug possession for years. New research suggests the opposite.
Researchers from Portland State University’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice released their final report examining the impacts of years of major drug policy changes between 2008 and 2024 on crime and drug-related deaths. The National Institute of Justice and Portland State University collaborated on the report. They found little evidence that Oregon’s drug decriminalization law led to higher crimes or deaths from overdose.
In the run-up to HB4002, there were many who claimed that Measure 110 had been responsible for an increase in crime and deaths from overdose. Our findings, however, offer very little support to those claims.
The report outlines a decade of Oregon’s drug policy reforms, starting in 2013 when Oregon enacted a law reducing mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana and diverted more drug offenses to probation. Then in 2017, lawmakers passed a law to reclassify moderate drug possession felony offenses to misdemeanors for Schedule 1 or 2 drugs, such as heroin and cocaine.
Finally, in November 2020, Oregon voters passed Measure 110, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs, such as methamphetamine and fentanyl. In 2021 the policy went into effect, reducing misdemeanors to violations punishable by a fine of $100.
The Oregon drug policy changes, such as decriminalization in 2021 and defelonization in (2017), had no lasting effects on violent or property crime rates.
Researchers did not find any evidence that the measure was linked to an increase in crime or drug deaths. Researchers found that COVID-19 and the advent of fentanyl, rather than the measure itself, were responsible for a rise in crimes rates and drug deaths.
“Of all the events we examined, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the justice system the most, more so than any legislation,” Brian Renauer, a lead researcher and university professor, said in a news release.
Oregon had a rise in overdoses before decriminalizing drugs
In 2020, there were 816 overdose deaths in Oregon—about 200 more than the previous year. This number has more than doubled, and will peak in 2023 with 1,833 deaths from overdose.
Lawmakers anticipating a citizen-led initiative to repeal Measure 110 effectively ended the drug decriminalization experiment, when overdose deaths had already begun to decline. In 2024, there were 1480 overdoses recorded.
The rise in the number of overdoses was mainly due to the COVID19 epidemic and the spread of fentanyl rather than any specific changes made by drug policies.
People caught in possession of small quantities of drugs may now be arrested, and criminal charges can be brought against them. They can, however, avoid criminal charges if they enter a treatment program or deflection programme.
Christopher Campbell, associate professor and lead researcher at the University, stated that although Measure 110 has flaws, it is having a regional impact. Crime trends in California are stable or decreasing by 2023.
Campbell stated that “what we observed had no causal relationship to Measure 110.” We saw a significant impact on health and safety of COVID-19 and fentanyl.
Oregon Capital Chronicle published this article first.