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Oregon’s state legislature just reduced penalties for drug possession in a bill also intended to reduce racial profiling by law enforcement agencies.
H.B. 2355 passed both the House and Senate last week and reduces possession of illegal drugs to misdemeanors rather than felonies as long as the person in possession does not have prior drug convictions. According to a press release issued on July 7 by Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum, the bill provides for “the reduction of penalties for lower level drug offenders. The bill also reduces the maximum penalty for Class A misdemeanors by one day to avoid mandatory deportation for misdemeanants.”
Has everyone forgotten that there are Federal laws making these drugs illegal including the sale and distribution of these drugs? Do you think the Federal government is going to sit on their hands and allow meth, heroin, and cocaine to be legalized at a state level?
Just because they choose to look the other way with pot, that doesn't mean they're going to do the same with harder drugs.
Are they buttressing this with increased treatment availability? If so, this is smart move. Around here, treatment is darned hard to get.
Treatment does not cure addiction. Best case scenario is that it might teach a highly motivated addict some recovery tools. Once back in the real world a super majority identify relapsing. Most of the others are probably lying.
The 12 Steps approach is not particularily successful with younger addicts in the same way it has been with alcoholics, most of whom trend older. Even then, alcoholism is hard to beat into submission.
That's not how coke, meth and heroin users roll. A huge percentage of them hurt other people either by robbing them, assaulting them during the robbery or just tweak out and go crazy. Like I said before, a huge chunk of those let go on this will eventually end up in prison anyway.
A heroin addict is far more likely to manipulate family members and steal from them than to rob strangers, let alone assault them.
They don't get desperate if they have somewhere to go to get that fix, along with treatment. Please check out the results of decriminalizing in Portugal. As it turns out, it works MUCH better to treat this problem in the health care system, not the criminal justice system.
Portugal has mandatory Universal Healthcare and made the decision to treat addiction as a health issue instead of a crime.
Imagine the reaction if US tax $ were used to deliver Methadone to the homes of opiate/ opioid addicts at no cost to the addict. Sooner or later most relapse anyway. Rinse/ repeat. Never ending cycle.
Some other countries provide the drug of choice to addicts at no cost to the addicts. The goal is to reduce crime and the never ending effort to score. In theory, addicts could become somewhat more productive members of society or at least less disruptive.
No, it's not. Guess you've never heard of a HIV infected needle left lying around for some kid to find in their front yard.
How do you think the Junkies come up with the money for all that H? They rob and steal, often with a gun.
And BTW I support decriminalization of all drugs.
Don't be silly. If a heroin addict had a gun, it would be likely sold or traded for their drug of choice.
Far more likely to try to walk out of Kohls with 3 Kitchen- aid Mismasters or steal from a relative.
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