2024-03-03 06:30:06
After decriminalizing its use, the US state of Oregon is moving towards re-imposing controls and penalties on drug users and dealers.
The state legislature approved a bill restoring criminal penalties following widespread anger over drug use in public places, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal on Saturday.
The report reviews testimonies that show the painful reality of drug users in Oregon.
As a firefighter and paramedic in suburban Portland, Dacia Graeber witnessed the ravages of drug users in the state, including fentanyl addicts who staggered, stumbled and collapsed on the streets.
Last year, I watched a young addict die with his two-year-old daughter curled on his chest.
Like many people in the state, Graeber believes the problem has gotten worse since voters in 2020 voted in a ballot decriminalizing possession of all types of drugs.
Political leaders in Oregon have reached the same conclusion, and are now regarding to end a nearly three-year experiment as the first and only state in the country that allows residents to freely use drugs ranging from heroin to cocaine and fentanyl, according to the newspaper.
On Friday, the state Senate voted to make possession of small amounts of hard drugs a misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in prison. The bill, which was the result of months of discussions between lawmakers from both parties, was approved in the House of Representatives on Thursday.
Democratic Gov. Tina Kotick had previously said she was open to reinstating criminal penalties for drug possession. Her office did not respond to a request for comment on the draft law from the newspaper.
Kotick, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, and the mayor of Multnomah County, where Portland is located, Jessica Vega Pederson, jointly declared a state of emergency in January due to what they described as a public health and public safety crisis in the city caused by fentanyl abuse.
Many residents, business owners and law enforcement officials have become angry, and a poll last year showed that most people want to reverse course and make drug possession a crime once more.
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