Terrence and D.Shot sitting outside on a busy street portlandOre., keeping warm on American Thanksgiving weekend with a barrel fire on the sidewalk.
Beside them, a shopping cart filled with lumber and returnable cans promises a few dollars and a few more hours of warmth as the pair look for a “means of survival” in the winter.
“We have to live. It’s cold outside,” said Terence, who hasn’t been home for nine months. “It’s all about survival here because we’re not getting any help from these people. No mental health help.
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On February 1, Oregon It will be two years since the state made history as the first US state to decriminalize personal use of drugs such as heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and oxycodone.
The west coast state made headlines around the world when it passed the law amid a worrying rise in overdose deaths. Under Measure 110, instead of incarceration, people found with drugs are given a ticket with a fine that is waived if they call a treatment hotline.
Terence and de Schott said they are aware of Measure 110, but doubt the landmark policy’s effectiveness in treating addiction. D.Schott suggested that this is more of a boon for taxpayers than users, as it means less costly paperwork and fewer court dates.
Meanwhile, use on the streets and on the black market continues.
“We’re not all stupid, man. I think when they did that they thought we were asleep,” De Schott told Global News. “People are going to do drugs. It is not going to stop because it has been decriminalised.
“All it’s doing is making it easier for people to have drugs, you know what I’m saying? And take drugs.
Despite passage of Measure 110, Oregon suffers from some of the worst rates of untreated addiction in America
a recent survey The country’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration found that nearly one in five of its residents struggle with addiction. According to the advocacy group Oregon Recover, State loses five people in a day for alcoholism, and a day or two for drug overdoses.
Terrence estimates that half of the city’s homeless population struggle with substance abuse.
“This stuff plays with your mental state. They are not helping these people here,” he said.
The decriminalization may have received mixed reviews in its first two years, but some advocates working in mental health and addiction in Oregon believe it’s still too early to draw conclusions.
Tera Hurst, executive director of the Health Justice Recovery Alliance, said, “Ultimately, when we pass legislation, everyone anticipates that everything will be resolved the next day.”
“Obviously that’s not a reality in any policy, especially a major policy change.”
Hurst said one of the “game-changer” elements of Measure 110 is the deployment of tax revenue from the state’s cannabis industry to fund a network of treatment programs. according to Health Justice Recovery Alliance websiteOver $300 million has been invested in overdose prevention, housing, peer support, harm reduction, and addiction recovery in just two years.
Hurst estimated that the ticketing and treatment policy has helped some 7,000 people avoid long-term “barriers on their records” that would prevent them from accessing jobs and housing. They’ve also heard stories of families staying together and accessing the same day beds through Measure 110 funding.
He said of treatment services, “You don’t need a (drug possession) ticket to get them.” “An outreach worker can come out and they are what we want to assess someone who is in crisis.”
That’s where “magic” happens, Hurst said — when someone with lived experience, who has dedicated their life to supporting others with the same struggle, extends a helping hand.
The lived experience inspired Oregon co-founder Tony Vezina 4d recovery, To open your arms to the needy. He said he “grew up in a family of addicts” and has been in recovery for over a decade.
“I dropped out of high school, got addicted to prescription painkillers, OxyContin, and then heroin, and was homeless for a while,” he told Global News from Portland.
“Whether I went on my own or was intervened by the criminal justice system, I went to treatment many times, recovered and started giving back to the community I harmed.”
In addition to his community work through 4D, Vezina chairs the Alcohol and Drug Policy Commission of Oregon, an independent state government agency that aims to improve the effectiveness of statewide and local treatment, prevention, and recovery services.
Like Hearst, he appreciated the wealth that came with the Measure 110. However, he said there is room for improvement in the law, citing Portugal’s system as an example.
In 2001, Portugal became the first country in the world reducing personal use and consumption of all drugs, In the European country, people caught with personal supplies can receive a warning, small fine or instructions to appear before a commission to learn about treatment, harm reduction and support services.
“There are potential results, but they rarely use it, and then people are sent for treatment more often than they should, and that seems like a good strategy to me,” Vezina said.
“In Oregon, we did that kind of model, but not really — we changed the possession of the user amount to a violation, like a traffic ticket, where people get tickets and they have to call a number and get help. has to be done, which is fine in principle.
“But tickets are not a useful mechanism to get people into treatment. Very few people called or sought treatment or help through tickets.,
Oregon must do more to address the social justice issues that contribute to addiction in the first place, Vezina said, estimating “less than one percent” of state funds devoted to substance abuse rather than treatment. directed to prevention.
Oregon’s path to decriminalization was very different from British Columbia’s.
In May, BC became the first province to receive an exemption from the federal government’s Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, removing criminal penalties for possessing certain hard drugs. Measure 110, in contrast, was passed after a majority of state voters approved it in a referendum.
Reporter Blair Best, who covers homelessness for Portland’s KGW News, said Measure 110 has “good intentions” but does not provide enough housing to support those opting out of its treatment services. Two years in, she said the lack of education on the law remains problematic.
“I think a lot of homeless people don’t follow the new laws that are being passed… What they know is they can smoke fentanyl and get away with it,” she explained.
“They all get cited with $100-fines and they have to show up to court, many of them don’t show up to court, then they have a warrant out for them — so it’s just this cycle that continues. .,
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As in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Best said some businesses in downtown Portland have closed because of the twin crises of homelessness and drug use on their doorsteps. Some business owners blame the Measure 110, but Best believes that’s wrong.
“I believe these drugs will be on the streets regardless,” the Emmy Award-winning journalist told Global News. “And a lot of times, the reason they’re doing these drugs is because they’re homeless — it’s not that they’re doing drugs and that’s why they became homeless.”
For many, drugs are a survival tool, keeping users awake at night and protecting their tents and belongings from theft or removal, she explained. has become one Increase in overdose deaths In the last two years, BEST was added, but it is not clear whether this is related to measure 110.
Overall, Hurst and Vezina agree that decriminalization has put Oregon on the right track, but much work lies ahead, especially when it comes to prevention.
Hurst said some organizations have been able to access life-saving equipment through Measure 110, such as naloxone, and reverse more than 500 overdoses a month. However, it will take a “really long time” to completely eliminate the addiction, while other obstacles – such as rising rent prices – will remain in the way.
“Every day it’s delayed, people are dying,” Hurst said. “Let’s stop idealizing the war on drugs and start really focusing on why people are using. We have a lot of untreated trauma.