Oregon is rolling back a law that came into effect in 2021 that decriminalized drugs and the possession of illicit drugs – such as meth – after overdose deaths spiked 50%. 

The state’s Measure 110 has been scrapped, which removed prison sentences for those in possession of small amounts of illicit drugs, and gave meager $100 fines — that could be lifted— instead.

“The truth is that addiction rates and overdose rates skyrocketed,” said Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler told the New York Times.

“I personally do not attribute all of that to the passage of Measure 110,” he added.

Instead, legislatures and Portland’s mayor are blaming increased homelessness and a lack of support services for the law’s failure — not the law itself. 

According to Wheeler, the state “botched the implementation” of the law. 

“To decriminalize the use of drugs before you actually had the treatment services in place was obviously a huge mistake,” he said.

Wheeler further laid blame on the fact that new illicit drugs exist now, before they passed the law.

“In 2015, P2P meth didn’t exist. Fentanyl didn’t exist,” he said. 

Republican calls the law a disaster

However, Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp calls the law a national embarrassment and complete failure. 

“Measure 110 was not what Oregonians thought it was,” the Republican said. 

“They were told that their family, their friends, were going to get treatment for addiction. And what it turned into was a free-for-all of public drug use, increased fentanyl, opioid overdose deaths increasing exponentially, and Oregon becoming seen as a national dumpster fire.”

According to DHM Research conducted in December 2023, 81% of Portland residents don’t feel safe going downtown at night. 

In Canada, seventy-two BC doctors recently urged the province’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, to reconsider expanding prescribed safer supply (PSS), claiming the practice is unscientific and could be dangerous long-term.