Oregon voters passed the most liberal drug law in the country in November 2020, decriminalizing possession for small amounts of hard drugs.
Under Ballot Measure 110, instead of arresting drug users, police now give them a citation and point them towards treatment. The law passed with 58% of the vote and also funneled hundreds of millions of dollars in cannabis tax revenue to fund new recovery programs.
But more than three years later, the drug crisis in Oregon – like many other places battling the fentanyl crisis – has gotten worse. And that’s prompted a fierce political debate in Oregon about whether Measure 110 has succeeded or failed.