Oregon will recriminalize drugs on Sept. 1, but the delayed opening of a Portland-area deflection center leaves police with few places other than jail to take suspects.
People caught with drugs in Portland, Oregon, between 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. and on weekends may be arrested and taken to jail starting next week, according to police. It's a temporary solution as Multnomah County works to get a deflection center up and running to offer people suspected of low-level drug possession the option of treatment over jail once drugs become recriminalized on Sept. 1, The Oregonian reported Monday.
This spring, Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill creating a new misdemeanor drug possession charge and giving those caught with small amounts of substances like meth and fentanyl a choice: undergo treatment or go to jail for up to six months. Treatment includes a behavioral health screening and participation in state-funded deflection programs.
Multnomah County Circuit Judge Michael Greenlick expressed concerns about the different consequences for people after hours, calling it 'very problematic from just a basic equal protection or fairness standpoint.' 'You happen to have an interaction at 8:05 , you’re brought into the court system,' Greenlick said at the meeting, according to The Oregonian. 'But if it’s at 7:55 , then you’re out for deflection.
Overdose deaths in Oregon surged from 800 in 2020 to about 1,400 in 2022, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Decriminalization advocates point out that fatal overdoses surged across the country beginning in early 2020, not just in Oregon, with many analysts attributing the spike to isolation and despair during the coronavirus pandemic. Nationwide, overdose deaths fell last year, according to CDC data.
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