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Oregon undoes groundbreaking drug decriminalization law
(www.theguardian.com)
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this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024
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110 has been a disaster, glad to see it go.
The idea was to provide a path for treatment.
The problem was a) treatment was optional and b) addicts don't want treatment.
Here's the way it "worked":
You get busted for what would have been a typical drug offense.
Cop doesn't arrest you, gives you a $100 ticket.
Tells you the ticket is waived if you call a toll free number and ask for treatment.
Addicts:
https://youtu.be/5rVQGT01Kzg#t=16s
Initially, they gave out around 16,000 tickets.
Less than 1% called the helpline.
https://www.opb.org/article/2022/02/14/oregon-drug-decriminalization-measure-110-grants-treatment-recovery-services/
Then what happened was the cops stopped even pretending to enforce the laws. Honduran gangs started operating an open air drug market literally blocks from police headquarters.
https://www.wweek.com/news/2023/07/26/on-portlands-fentanyl-corner-a-dance-with-death-sells-for-20/
https://www.koin.com/news/crime/feds-drug-traffickers-using-honduran-nationals-to-funnel-fentanyl-into-portland/
Overdoses went through the roof:
https://www.opb.org/article/2024/01/28/data-show-overdoses-deaths-rising-in-oregon/
Robberies to support the drug habits went up:
https://www.kgw.com/article/news/local/southeast-portland-break-ins-restaurants/283-28745fda-0cd7-4588-978d-448529460b41
Car thefts went way up.
https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/2023/11/car-thefts-declining-in-portland-after-record-breaking-surge.html
So, yeah, this is why we can't have nice things.
And the supporters are still going "Buh, buh, in Portugal..." completely ignoring that Portugal has universal health care and provides penalties for people who don't seek treatment.
Okay, I'll probably make a few posts as I work through this, please forgive the shit format, but I have only small breaks. So, your link on robberies only focuses on one business, it doesn't provide any information about whether actual burglaries (which is what this properly is) or general property crime is increasing, and whether it's increasing disproportionate to the pacific region or the rest of the country. We don't have this law in Cali, and I saw stories and articles like this here, too. I think your evidence in this regard is very wanting.
The law passed in 2020, the dramatic increases in crime started happening virtually immediately.
That's just one story, there are many, many like it.
https://www.kgw.com/article/money/business/survey-portland-businesses-break-ins-vandalism/283-1f1d2229-20ad-42a4-bd5d-58c24143daba
https://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2023/03/07/portland-small-business-break-in-vandalism-2022.html
Alright, first of all, I want to let you know that I'm speaking with you from a place of respect. Tone gets lost in text, and I don't want to convey contentiousness. Thank you for taking the time to have this discussion.
Okay, you have anecdotes and surveys. That's really all the first link is, and I find it to be, again, lacking in any kind of hard evidence about an increase in property crime that's statistically significant. The second link is paywalled, so I can't speak to it.
Same survey group asking small busineses in 2022 "Hey, you been broken into?" 63% say yes.
2023 - 78% say yes.
Not a good look. And this is only small business, like this one who closed after being broken into 15 times (!):
https://www.koin.com/news/civic-affairs/rains-pdx-closes-cites-employee-safety-crime-in-portland/
It's not counting places like REI:
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2023/04/rei-to-close-its-only-portland-store-citing-break-ins-theft.html
Or Target:
https://www.wweek.com/news/courts/2023/10/17/target-has-been-complaining-to-city-officials-about-crime-at-shuttered-stores-for-over-a-year/
Or Nike:
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2023/02/nike-wants-to-hire-off-duty-police-as-security-to-keep-portland-stores-open.html
Or Fred Meyer (Kroger):
https://www.oregonlive.com/business/2023/06/portland-partners-with-fred-meyer-to-increase-security-at-stores-to-combat-theft-crimes.html
Okay, I'm not interested in the big retailers because they made a lot of noise lying (yes, lying) about big increases in national theft rates. This could easily be part of the same narrative that they've been using to shutter stores without scaring the shit out of shareholders.
I will listen to small businesses. So, the next thing we need to know is we need burglary statistics from other big cities in the pacific region outside of Oregon to determine if the increase is statistically significant or if it's just noise. 19 other cities is the minimum of what we need. I think the FBI has publicly available crime data in a machine readable format, I'll see if I can't run it down. If we get a P-value < 0.05, there's less than a 5% chance that the null hypothesis (Oregon's property crime isn't meaningfully different from the nation) is true. If I have the time to do it, I'll get back to everyone with what I've found.
So... decriminalization does work, when coupled with active, non-passive programs. However, you can't just decriminalize and then do essentially nothing to support individuals found with or taking drugs. This leads me to believe this was likely expected to fail from the start. If I put on a tinfoil hat I'd even argue it was done to help regain some lost support on the War on Drugs.
This has always been my issue with it. While a ticket is technically a penalty, if there is no weight behind it, it means jack shit. Treatment should be free and mandatory.
I don't know if anyone has been to Portugal recently, but it has gotten a lot worse.