The Oregon Experiment | What Happened When a US State Tried to Decriminalize Drugs (In Real Life)

What are your thoughts on Oregon's decision to re-criminalize drug possession after initially decriminalizing it? Do you think the state should have followed Portugal's model more closely, or is re-criminalization the right move?

Back in my day people had the decency to hide their drug use

“Until there are other systems in place..” “There aren’t enough beds…” They didn’t have the resources to help the people that were seeking treatment. The people who needed treatment couldn’t pay because Medicaid wouldn’t cover it. Re-criminalizing is just punishing people for being poor. There is no beds in treatment centers, they have no place to go. Rather than invest in treatment facilities they would rather just put people in jail. Which in the long run will only cost the government more money.

Every major city in the U.S.A looks just like Portland. This has nothing to do with Oregon law.

Well, you you do something half-assed, you get half-assed results.

What they did was make the drug dealers a rack of money

It hasn't worked. I know one of the criticisms is that the program hasn't been properly supported, but it has. Vancouver, Canada tried it as well, to equally horrendous results. I live in Seattle, which sits in between these two cities, and I am committed that the same idea is not tried here. I've had to call 9-1-1 on overdosed folks repeatedly, because I am one of the few who overcomes the bystander effect and stops and checks on them. Most people here will literally sidestep an addict flopped over in the middle of the sidewalk, and we are supposed to be one of the most progressive cities in the US. Addiction is a disease, not something to be treated as a responsible adult choice. This goes against the super woke ethos in Pacific Northwest culture, but the rampant drug use is not just a danger for addicts, it is a danger for first responders and children and adults who happen to be around it and is destroying our cities.

All the drugs replaced with Fentynal didn’t help either

It’s terrible! Drugs are destroying are cities

As a former Democrat, one thing that's so frustrating is when Democrats REFUSE to admit they messed up 🫤 I'm happy to see there are people who are able to admit they messed up

I live in portland, and measure 110 was a joke from inception. I also worked in the field of addiction for 1 years. So if the addict got a ticket, they were never concerned? Nothing happened if they didn't follow through 😂

Up here in British Columbia we saw it up close and personal. Now the government is back tracking hard.

Oregon officials seemed to think that what worked in Portugal would work in Oregon. They were dead wrong. In the U.S., allowing Americans to use hard drugs in public, was a huge mistake.

Passing a law without the infrastructure it needs is a mistake. But hindsight is always 20/20

Its already criminalized again. I don't believe people should be locked up and fined for it. Adiction is still not fully understood. Isolation and blame does not help the situation.

This is what Seattle looks like. It’s more than just Portland.

Some people have been managing their drug use very well, not everyone was a raging drug addict, some work normal jobs and function as a part of society and you would never even know it.

The province of BC tried the same misguided policies and achieved that same disastrous results.

The general idea of decriminalization was valid, but the execution was pathetic. I live in Beaverton, a suburb of Portland, and I avoid downtown like the plague! When I moved here in 2015, it was completely different. Downtown was worth going to for hanging out, shopping etc. Since the pandemic, then George Floyd riots, it’s become one big crime infested homeless camp. Oregon is a beautiful place. Portland is a dumpster fire!

I live in PDX. The perspective in this is ridiculous.