Measure 110 was approved by Oregon voters in the November 2020 election and decriminalized most Possession of a Controlled Substance (PCS) offenses as of February 1, 2021. Those PCS offenses now have a maximum $100 fine and no jail or other criminal penalties. Measure 110 also provided funding for substance use disorder assessment, treatment, and other resources.
READ the measure, as amended by the 2021 Legislative Assembly (PDF)
BM 110 Statistics from OJD – Through March 2022 (this file has been removed from the OJD website as of 4/15/2022)
‘Total chaos’: Delays dog Oregon’s drug decriminalization law – Oregonian April 12, 2022
Oregon has yet to spend nearly $300 million in tax revenue set aside for substance abuse treatment and recovery services under a voter-approved law intended to transform the state’s response to addiction.
So far not a single new treatment bed has been funded since Measure 110′s passage to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of heroin and other street drugs and set up a system to refer and treat those suffering from addiction.
Few obtain treatment in first year of Oregon drug-decriminalization grants – The Lund Report February 2022
More than 16,000 Oregonians accessed services through the new grant program set up under Oregon’s landmark drug-decriminalization law in its first year, but less than 1% of those helped with Measure 110 dollars were reported to have entered treatment, new state data shows.
Most of those who accessed the grant-funded services last year, nearly 60%, engaged with harm reduction programs such as syringe exchanges and naloxone distribution.
When voters passed Measure 110 in November 2020, they not only decriminalized low-level possession of most illicit drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin, they also diverted hundreds of millions in marijuana tax dollars to drug treatment and recovery services. Since the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act went into effect in February 2021, the money has been distributed through grants, the majority of which the state-appointed Measure 110 Oversight and Accountability Council awards to providers.
When does Oregon’s drug decriminalization law take effect? What happens then? – Oregonian November 29, 2020
Oregon’s new law decriminalizing the possession of small amounts of street drugs takes effect Feb. 1, 2021.
That’s also the date when the Oregon Health Authority is required to have appointed members for the oversight and accountability council that will evaluate which substance abuse programs statewide will get funding.
That panel is required to start distributing money by Oct. 1 under Measure 110, which voters approved this month. The money comes from state marijuana sales tax revenue and will go into a fund.
Backers put millions behind nation’s first bid to decriminalize possession of heroin, meth, other street drugs – Oregonian October 11 2020
Oregonians this fall will decide whether to decriminalize drugs like heroin and methamphetamine as part of a ballot measure that also would redirect millions in marijuana tax revenue to substance abuse screening and programs to address addiction.
If voters pass it, Oregon would be the only state to decriminalize possession of small quantities of street drugs other than marijuana.
Due to huge contributions from national reformers, Measure 110 supporters have far more money than opponents do. Many addiction specialists and criminal justice change agents advocate for its ground-breaking effort to move people out of jail and into treatment.