Amidst the chaos following election night 2020, an astounding piece of legislation passed in Oregon has perhaps not quite received the media coverage that could otherwise have been expected. In a landmark move, Oregon citizens voted to radically change the state's drug laws by a margin of over 55 to 45%.
The new laws state that simple possession of drugs such as cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine will no longer be crimes but regarded as misdemeanours and that psilocybin mushrooms, often known as 'magic mushrooms', will be fully legalised.
Known as Measure 110 – the Drug Decriminalization and Addiction Treatment Initiative, means that people will no longer be jailed for possession of drugs and that authorities will seek instead to get drug users and addicts into the appropriate treatment programs.
The US 'War on Drugs' has been heavily criticised for what has been almost 50 years of never-ending powerful police action against drug-dealers and drug-users. A 'war on drugs' that has cost the United States hundreds-of-billions of dollars with little to no effect on diminishing drug use and deaths.
In Oregon, marijuana is legal for both medicinal and recreational use, and $100 million in tax revenue from the cannabis industry will be funnelled into treatment programs brought about by this new legislation. Drug dealing will remain an offence with strict punishments.
The 'Yes on 109 campaign' that backed the change in the laws said:
"We are incredibly grateful for the support of each and every voter who helped us make history by creating the first legal psilocybin therapy program in the country. Healthcare professionals, veterans, mothers, people struggling with depression, anxiety, addiction and end of life distress, community organizations, and so many others answered to call for a new option to help so many who are suffering."
Several states and nations across the world have gone down the road of decriminalising (but not legalising) hard-drug use and possession.
Portugal enacted this policy some years ago and while the nation had a severe drug problem, particularly with heroin, the new laws have resulted in lower drug use, a significantly lower number of drug deaths, lower HIV transmission rates and a lower prison population. Consequently, such simple measures to tackle drug use as a public health issue as opposed to a criminal issue do work.
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