Oregon is set to become the first US state to decriminalise possession of all illegal drugs.
A so-called “ballot initiative”, where voters can have their say on a proposed change to the law while voting in an election.
With the passage of Measure 110, Oregonians can no longer be criminally charged for possessing small amounts of illegal drugs, including heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine. The punishment for these felony and misdemeanour drug possession offences will now be a simple $100 fine. The initiative also redirects some taxes raised through sales of legal marijuana to finance a new voluntary treatment system for drug users.
This marks the nation’s most significant development toward ending the 50-year war on drugs launched by president Richard Nixon. That catastrophic policy, disproportionately waged against Black, Latino and economically disadvantaged communities, swept generations of young men into a revolving-door criminal justice system punishing them for illegal drug possession or sales while drug usage rates held steady and overdose deaths skyrocketed.
Oregon’s initiative had broad support from groups like the NAACP Portland, local Black Lives Matter chapters, physicians groups and AFSCME, the government workers union whose membership includes corrections officers. It attracted no organised opposition.
Drug Policy Action, a national drug reform group, led the campaign to pass the initiative. The group spent nearly £3.46m ($4.5m) on the effort, while working with state and local activists and supporters.
Supporters of drug decriminalisation said they hope the passage of Oregon’s Measure 110 encourages other states to pass similar ballot initiatives or legislation that will ease the war on drugs. They aim to copy the success of the marijuana legalisation movement, which has spread quickly across the US over the past decade.
Oregon has been a leader in liberalising its drug laws in recent years. The state legalised marijuana in 2014 and reduced many drug penalties from felonies to misdemeanours in 2017.