On Nov. 3 Oregon decriminalized all drugs in their state, meaning people possessing small amounts of hard drugs are able to pay a fine of 100 dollars or go to an addiction recovery center. Large amounts of drugs, however, can be charged with a misdemeanor.
This change will make it harder for an addict to overcome their addiction. Instead of fearing jail time when buying illegal substances, they solely have to worry about a 100 dollar fine. The new rules on the criminalization of drugs are too soft on people in possession of drugs.
On the other hand, the addiction recovery center is a very good idea. I think it is immensely important to have a public service anyone can access if they want help with fighting their addictions. While many of these places may not have the best treatment options, it can work to give an alternate option to addicts.
Senior Bobby McClimon agrees. “I think 100 dollars isn’t enough for finding hard drugs and instead should be more focused on helping people who find themselves using hard drugs,” he said.
Senior Jacob Frankel holds a differing opinion. “If you are decriminalizing drugs, there should not be a fine, just rehab,” he said. Clearly, there are many different views to take on the cost of the ticket.
There is a middle ground legislators should have considered: adding the addiction recovery centers, but still having criminal charges for these drugs. This would make addicts worry about possessing them and it portrays the drugs as the dangerous items that they are.
In 1973, Oregon became the first state to decriminalize marijuana. Now, they are trying to do the same with hard drugs, but the problem is that marijuana has health benefits and hard drugs solely harm one’s health.
Although the concept behind measure 110 (the measure decriminalizing hard drugs) is good, a better way of implementing this would be to offer the Addiction Recovery Center option instead of prison time, so users can have their records wiped if the program successfully treats them.
Oregon’s new legislation is horribly flawed and must be reformed. Inevitably, it will increase the amount of drug users in Oregon, in turn making more people become addicts.
