As noted elsewhere in this thread…
Under Measure 110, the rate of people asking for help was less than 1% when the alternative was an optional $100 ticket.
When the choice is “get help or jail” it’s now 7%.
The threat of jail is 7x more effective.
80’s Wall Street isn’t living in their own shit on the streets of Portland.
Well, I know how much treatment and housing costs and it’s way more than a $100.
I also know if you give an addict a choice between food and feeding the addiction they will choose the addiction every day and twice on Sunday. (That’s why it’s “an addiction”.)
As a GenXer, we’ve been saying this for 30 years. The Boomers are going to destroy it for everyone.
Why not make it illegal?
Couple of reasons…
Looking at the numbers:
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10741819/
“All cigarette use—assessed as ever, occasional, frequent, or daily—among adolescents declined markedly from 1991 to 2021. Specifically, ever use significantly decreased from 70.1% in 1991 to 17.8% in 2021 (P<0.05), an almost 4-fold decline. Occasional use significantly decreased from 27.5% in 1991 to 3.8% in 2021 (P<0.05), a greater than 7-fold decline. Frequent use significantly decreased from 12.7% to 0.7%, a greater than 18-fold decline. Daily use declined from 9.8% in 1991 to 0.6% in 2021, a greater than 16-fold decline. Cigarette smoking significantly decreased from 1999 to 2021 across sex, race/ethnicity, and school grade (P<0.05). In 2021, daily use was higher in boys vs girls; Hispanic/Latino and White youth vs Black and Asian youth; and 12th graders vs 9th, 10th, and 11th graders.”
https://www.koat.com/article/almost-90-of-stolen-cars-test-positive-for-methamphetamine/19080589
Imagine having a place that not only allows freedom of speech, but PRIDES itself on freedom of speech, then denying and prosecuting speech they don’t like.
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The salient points have been addressed elsewhere. But yeah, like I said, our courts are fucked:
https://apnews.com/article/oregon-public-defender-judge-ruling-dbb0489e4690cc28cd7d26eed6cddde8
But the solution isn’t to just throw up your hands and go “Welp, guess we can’t enforce the laws then!”
Smoking isn’t illegal… well… unless you’re within 10 feet of a public entrance. ;)
Prison as a threat to get treatment is effective, yes. We’re seeing that, a higher rate of people entering treatment now than under decriminalization.
$100 isn’t going to get anyone treatment or housing, and they’d rather blow it in a drug market than on food.
The court system in Oregon was fucked already, ignoring crimes isn’t going to fix that problem.
The problem isn’t having more drug treatment centers, the problem under 110 was making drug treatment optional with the alternative being a $100 fine that could be safely used as toilet paper.
The incentive that works is “Get treatment or go to jail, pick one.” We’re already seeing a greater diversion into treatment with jail as a threat than a $100 fine with no enforcement.
A surprising number are actually choosing jail. They do not want treatment.
Drug use exploded as a problem in Oregon when we de-criminalized it. So, yes, Oregon was unique in that regard. Fortunately we reversed course there and are starting to get it back under control.
The rich are a problem here, but not to the degree you might think. Nike is here, Intel is here, really those are the two big ones and they don’t have the same impact as, say, Amazon or Microsoft in Seattle.
Not in Oregon they don’t.
That’s not the solution, because given a choice, addicts will not choose it.
The real solution is involuntary commitment for mental health and drug treatment, but nobody wants to go there.