The War on Drugs & Oregon Measure 110

“This is your brain.  This is drugs.  This is your brain on drugs.  Any questions?”  (Now, was anyone over the age of 40 able to read that and NOT hear the egg frying?!)  America has been involved in a self-described “War on Drugs” for fifty years, and has not landed a meaningful blow in this arena yet…so yeah, I have a question:  Has this war ever even been about drugs?  

 I think not.  

 This blog post would turn into a book extremely quickly if I was to pontificate about what was REALLY going on behind the scenes of this great “war on drugs,” but one thing I’m fairly confident about is that it had very little to do with helping people addicted to drugs become healthy again.  (Although it did a remarkable job of filling the prisons with an astonishing number of American bodies…many from minority communities…was used as a tool to fund sketchy war efforts outside of American or Congressional oversight, and created a fiscally lucrative and stable business model for the private sector to profit from prison facilities.  Spend a weekend in the “Documentary” section of Netflix if you want more on those cool “War on Drugs” outcomes…)  Ultimately, if the War on Drugs was about reducing addiction, and therefore drug use, then the way our country has fought this war represents one of the most epic strategic failures of all time.  

  Finally, and thankfully, someone realized this and collectively took action: Oregon.  Ballot Measure 110, also known as the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act, decriminalizing possession of “hard” drugs (basically all drugs) in the state of Oregon and reducing the legal implications to a summary offense and a $100 fine, goes in effect February 1, 2021.  Oregon is taking a stance to begin treating addiction and drug use as a health crisis and condition, and bypassing the foolish “criminal” label we have been using for decades on those suffering.  Part of Measure 110 allocates substantial financing for access to treatment and rehabilitative services, which are the ONLY things that have any positive track record of truly helping anyone claw out of the hellish pit of substance abuse. 

 As an attorney, I have no doubt that there will be “bumps in the road” as this program becomes implemented.  The criminal justice system is so entwined with our concept of drug “rehabilitation” that no one ballot measure can untangle things instantly.  Our nation has a long history of associating drug users and criminals as one-in-the same, and transitioning to a new perspective that does not lead with the use of the legal system will certainly not be seamless.  But a new perspective is necessary if we want our stated objective of reducing drug use in our society to become an actual outcome in this so-called “war.”  

 Addiction and substance abuse are issues that are as complex as they are demoralizing to those suffering from them, impacted by them, and to society at large.  I have seen them firsthand both professionally and personally, and can speak loudly in support of the steps Oregon is taking through this initiative.  Addiction is far better treated by counselors and rehabilitation facilities than it is by lawyers and prisons, and the addict needs compassion far more than punishment.  

Five decades after declaring war on drugs, our nation is finally implementing a strategy that could result in victory, and we have Oregon to both thank and follow.  I for one will be rooting them on each day, one day at a time.