The Oregon State Legislature will reconvene in January, followed shortly thereafter by a Legislative Short Session. Measure 110, at the forefront after the controversial bill was passed in 2020, decriminalized the possession of small amounts of hard drugs including cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine.
“I wasn’t involved in the initial discussions, but I know from talking with my colleagues that we’ll be making some changes,” said Democratic Senator Deb Patterson. “There will be some solutions, but we don’t know what they will be. It’s still illegal to sell those drugs, so it will have to be enforced more stringently. We also don’t allow people to walk around drinking on the street, so that will be addressed. There are technical solutions and ways to streamline the process.”
The law reclassified the possession of these illegal substances into a civil violation, where offenders faced a $100 fine. Offenders avoided jail time by agreeing to participate in a health assessment, calling the statewide Addiction Recovery Center hotline. Alternatively, offenders could work with someone from the Behavioral Health Resource Network.
A committee was formed to help address the law and fallout after three years of having it in place.
“Historically, Measure 110 is an example of how the initiative process can be complicated, as the ballot title was misleading,” said Republican State Representative Kevin Mannix. “Some voters thought they were simply directing marijuana tax funds to rehabilitation centers. Today, we need to reinstate criminal penalties for drug use, at least in public, so that there is an opportunity to at least intervene. There must be a real impact on illegal drug use, and law enforcement must be able to offer them the option. The challenge lies in having enough treatment programs, with adequate beds and staff.”
Funds from Measure 110 were rerouted from the Oregon Marijuana Account, which is Oregon’s state tax for cannabis. More than $250 million in grants have been awarded to the measure to help with substance abuse treatment and other services.
Both Democrats and Republicans will also be working on other bills when the session opens up. Locally, Patterson hopes to work with the YMCA to establish a service center in the old Statesman Journal building in downtown Salem.
“Last time, there were no funds available. This time, we’re looking to secure them,” Patterson said. “The plan is to build a multi-service center with human services resources and nonprofit organizations to support the community. If fully implemented, the plan includes adding housing to the building. We’ll only address a couple of bills due to the short session.”
Patterson is also on the Housing Committee and is working to establish more affordable housing for people.
“I’m trying to secure funding for Bridgeway to help with services here in the Salem area,” Mannix said. “They might even secure funding before the end of the session. A sovereign center is needed in Salem, and we need to get it because the city doesn’t have one.”
“The governor wants us to look at the housing problem, and I want us to reconsider the enormous amount of bureaucracy we impose on the real estate sector,” Mannix said. “When the construction process can be expensive, when we artificially require certain features that increase the cost, all of those aspects need to be re-evaluated. We also need to analyze the speed with which these processes are implemented. There could be standard patterns pre-approved by the state, and it wouldn’t take city engineers 60 days to review them.”
Because this will be an even-numbered year, the short legislative session will last 35 days.
