Democratic lawmakers in Oregon on Tuesday unveiled a sweeping new bill that would undo a key part of the state’s first-in-the-nation drug decriminalization law, a recognition that public opinion has soured on the measure amid rampant public drug use during the fentanyl crisis.
The bill would recriminalize the possession of small amounts of drugs as a low-level misdemeanor, enabling police to confiscate them and crack down on their use on sidewalks and in parks, its authors said. It also aims to make it easier to prosecute dealers, to access addiction treatment medication, and to obtain and keep housing without facing discrimination for using that medication.
deleted by creator
Absolutely false. I live in a fantasy world where my leaders are required to watch Demolition Man on repeat until they understand that people have the inalienable right to choose to make themselves miserable. That’s why we also allow casinos.
deleted by creator
But do the leaders know how to use the three seashells?
How do you get clean in a for-profit healthcare system when you’re a poor junkie?
deleted by creator
Yeah that’s the problem. They’re sitting on that money instead of distributing it like they were supposed to meaning people aren’t getting treatment. This new bill is just more of the same and allows them to continue sitting on that money while pretending like they’re doing something about the issue.
Doing drugs in public was not decriminalized but police aren’t doing their job so that they can make the problem worse and get what they want.
deleted by creator
What point is there in calling a hotline that’ll tell you there’s no treatment options available? This shit is straight out of the Republican playbook, starve services to make them ineffectual, and then point to that ineffectiveness as a reason to change laws to what they want. The only difference here is that it’s Democratic legislators doing it. It’s just scumbags all the way down regardless of the party they represent.
Fines like this are just taxes for the poor.
I’m poor and I’m an (ex)addict. If a fine like that came with penalties, I wouldn’t do drugs in public… Because I wouldn’t want to pay the fine. Poor people aren’t stupid and most of us aren’t in the habit of throwing away money…
A penalty that has a significant impact on the poor while being the cost of having fun for the rich is just saying the behavior is only acceptable if you can afford it.
Rich people don’t leave giant shits and dirty needles outside of my apartment
Yeah I wonder why… I guess we’ll never know
Believe me, I understand. It should be tied to wealth… Which will never happen. $100 is much better than thousands and/or prison time. Drugs being decriminalized, and with such a low penalty, would hopefully encourage cops to be lenient in writing those tickets. Ideally, tickets would only be issued when people are literally shooting/lighting up in public. Most people know better than to do that.
deleted by creator
There needs to be a complete paradigm shift. Lots of people in this thread can’t seem to wrap their heads around the concept of “decriminalization.” That’s why people aren’t being penalized. Because it’s no longer illegal to possess. It’s really that simple.
deleted by creator