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The reversal comes as other high-profile liberal jurisdictions are also getting tougher on drugs and crime. And on Super Tuesday, San Francisco voters approved ballot measures that expand police powers and impose mandatory drug-screening and treatment requirements for welfare recipients. San Francisco had more than 800 motor vehicle thefts per 100,000 residents and – though a decline from 2022 – more than 20,000 car break-ins, according to The San Francisco Standard . In 2019, the year before voters approved the decriminalization measure, Oregon saw 280 accidental opioid overdose deaths, according to state public health authorities . “If you were to ask the public at large I think there’s a perception that it hasn’t worked,” says Hansen.

Persons: ” Kassandra Frederique, “, ” Leo Beletsky, –, Bob Lee, Henry Cuellar, Democrat –, Mayor London Breed, It’s, ” Beletsky, Tina Kotek, George Floyd’s, ”, Ben Hansen, hasn’t, Hansen Organizations: Drug Policy Alliance, Washington , D.C, San Francisco, Northeastern University, D.C, San Francisco Standard, Republican, Democrat, Mayor London, University of Oregon Locations: Oregon, Washington ,, Washington, carjackings, San Francisco, downtown San Francisco, Portland, Portland –, West Coast

Tina Kotek wants to scrap a plan to implement tolls on large sections of two Portland-area interstates, she said Monday. Kotek sent a letter to the Oregon Transportation Commission on Monday saying the Regional Mobility Pricing Project for Interstate 5 and Interstate 205 should be halted, KGW-TV reported. Kotek’s letter came a few weeks after a survey found a majority of Oregon voters opposed the Regional Mobility Pricing Project tolls, KOIN-TV reported. Photos You Should See View All 60 ImagesThe move also came after the Oregon Department of Transportation produced a report on the equity impacts of tolling and the agency’s plan to mitigate the impacts on low-income Portlanders. Beyer said “metro leadership views on tolling have changed” and “local and regional opposition to tolling makes clear that Oregon is not ready for regional tolling."

Persons: Tina Kotek, Kotek, ”, Julie Brown, Lee Beyer, Kris Strickler, Beyer, Strickler, ” Brown, ” Kotek, Washington that’s Organizations: —, Oregon Transportation, Oregon Department of Transportation, ” Oregon Transportation, Washington Locations: PORTLAND, — Oregon, Portland, Oregon, ” Oregon

☆ Oregon’s Decriminalized Drugs Debate Is Full of High Stakes - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( Maia Szalavitz | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In February 2021, Oregon decriminalized possession of small amounts of all drugs, via a ballot initiative known as Measure 110. The idea was to treat addiction as a public health problem, based on overwhelming evidence that jailing people for having small amounts of drugs for personal use is both ineffective and counterproductive. This spike was far greater than the 14 percent rise in the nation’s overall overdose deaths during the same period. Although Measure 110 passed with nearly 59 percent support, many Oregon voters are now calling for drugs to be recriminalized, citing these worsening conditions. But rampant misinformation — often being spread for political gain — means that the legislature is likely to return to its old-school drug war approach.

Organizations: Oregon voters Locations: Oregon

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court said Thursday that 10 Republican state senators who staged a record-long walkout last year to stall bills on abortion, transgender health care and gun rights cannot run for reelection. The decision upholds the secretary of state’s decision to disqualify the senators from the ballot under a voter-approved measure aimed at stopping such boycotts. Measure 113, passed by voters in 2022, amended the state constitution to bar lawmakers from reelection if they have more than 10 unexcused absences. The senators’ lawsuit was filed against Secretary of State LaVonne Griffin-Valade, who last August said the boycotting senators were disqualified from seeking reelection. Oregon voters approved Measure 113 by a wide margin following Republican walkouts in the Legislature in 2019, 2020 and 2021.

Persons: — Sens, Tim Knopp, Daniel Bonham, Suzanne Weber, Dennis Linthicum, Lynn Findley, ”, Knopp, they’ve, LaVonne Griffin, Valade, walkouts Organizations: Oregon Supreme, Republican, — Locations: SALEM, Ore, Oregon

☆ Fentanyl crisis in Oregon: 90-day state of emergency declared in downtown Portland
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Amy Simonson | Lauren Mascarenhas | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Oregon leaders joined forces to declare a 90-day state of emergency in downtown Portland, funneling resources into the city’s deadly fentanyl crisis. Oregon voters passed Measure 110 in 2020, which decriminalized some use of hard-drugs, including fentanyl, a potent synthetic opioid. The measure has received criticism, as opioid overdose deaths steadily climbed since. Opioid overdose deaths in the state increased from 280 in 2019 to 956 in 2022, according to the state’s data. Experts say reversing the trends in overdose deaths really depends on broader access to and use of treatments for opioid use disorder.

Persons: Tina Kotek, Jessica Vega Pederson, Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, ” Kotek, ”, “, ” Pederson Organizations: CNN, Oregon, Oregon Gov, Portland Mayor, US Centers of Disease Control, CDC, Portland Central City Task Force, Portland Police Bureau, Oregon State Police Locations: Portland, Multnomah, Portland’s Central City, Oregon

Possession of under a gram of heroin, for example, is only subject to a ticket and a maximum fine of $100. Some lawmakers have suggested focusing on criminalizing public drug use rather than possession. Backers of Oregon’s approach say decriminalization isn’t necessarily to blame, as many other states with stricter drug laws have also reported increases in fentanyl deaths. Despite public perception, the law has made some progress by directing $265 million dollars of cannabis tax revenue toward standing up the state’s new addiction treatment infrastructure. Horvick, the pollster, said public support for expanding treatment remains high despite pushback against the law.

Persons: — Oregon's, ”, John Horvick, Sen, Kate Lieber, Tina Kotek, Kotek, Jason Edmiston, Alex Kreit, Lily Morgan, Heather Jefferis, ” Lieber, “, Geoff Mulvihill, ___ Claire Rush Organizations: DHM Research, Democratic, Democratic Gov, Republican, Survey, Northern Kentucky University, Addiction Law, U.S . Centers for Disease Control, Health, Networks, Oregon Council, Behavioral Health, Associated Press, America Statehouse News Initiative, America Locations: PORTLAND, Oregon, Portland, Hermiston, California, Washington, U.S, Portugal, Philadelphia

Law enforcement officials came across a staggering find after being tipped off about possible drug-dealing: dozens of dog-food-size bags of psychedelic mushrooms worth an estimated $8.5 million at a home in rural Connecticut. About 20 other states have active legislation on changing laws on psychedelic drugs, according to Psychedelic Alpha, a group that tracks such legislation. Contact information for him could not be found in public records, and court records did not list a lawyer for him. Two years later, Colorado voters passed a ballot measure to decriminalize psychedelic mushrooms and to create state-regulated centers where participants can experience the drug under supervision. Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have decriminalized the possession and personal use of several hallucinogens, including psychedelic mushrooms, saying the state first needed regulated guidelines.

Persons: “, Gavin Newsom Organizations: Alpha, Authorities, Burlington, State, Food and Drug Administration Locations: Connecticut, Burlington, Hartford, U.S, Federal, New Britain, Oregon, Colorado, California

But that outburst of direct democracy has been limited to just half the states. About 167 million people live in 25 other states where such direct democracy is not currently an option. The number of ballot measures seeking to restrict the initiative and referendum process dipped in 2016 and has since risen. Measures seeking to restrict direct democracy peaked from 1995 to 2004 but significantly outpaced those seeking to expand direct democracy throughout the entire period of 1960 through 2022. Californians have considered 391 ballot initiatives — approving 137 of them — following campaigns that in recent years have cost tens of millions of dollars.

Persons: ”, John Matsusaka, Daniel Smith, Todd Donovan, that's, it's, Matsusaka, Michael Smith, ” Donovan, It's, it’s, ” Matsusaka Organizations: Initiative, University of Southern, South, University of Florida, Western Washington University, REPUBLICAN PUSHBACK Republican, Republican, Democratic, BIG, Oregon, Voters, Emporia State University, Referendum Locations: Maine, Ohio, University of Southern California, South Dakota, Mississippi, Alaska, Wyoming, Illinois, Florida, Arizona , Arkansas , Ohio, Arizona, Oregon, California, Kansas

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Supreme Court will decide whether Republican state senators who carried out a record-setting GOP walkout during the legislative session this year can run for reelection. The senators from the minority party are challenging a 2022 voter-approved constitutional amendment that bars state lawmakers from reelection after having 10 or more unexcused absences. Oregon voters overwhelmingly approved the ballot measure that created the amendment following Republican walkouts in the Legislature in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The senators filed the challenge in the Oregon Court of Appeals but asked that it go directly to the state Supreme Court. Several state senators with at least 10 absences during the most recent legislative session have already filed candidacy papers with election authorities.

Persons: walkouts, LaVonne Griffin, Valade, – Sens, Tim Knopp, Daniel Bonham, Suzanne Weber, Dennis Linthicum, Lynn Findley –, Griffin, they’ve Organizations: Oregon Supreme, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Nine Oregon Republicans, Democrat, Appeals Locations: SALEM, Ore, Oregon, Montana , Tennessee

☆ A New Era of Psychedelics in Oregon
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Mike Baker | More About Mike Baker | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

In a carpeted office suite, Alex Beck settled onto a mattress and, under the watch of a trained guide, began chomping through a handful of “Pumpkin Hillbilly” mushrooms. Now he was ready for a different kind of journey, a psychedelic trip through the nether regions of his own mind. As he felt his thoughts starting to spin, his “facilitator,” Josh Goldstein, urged him to surrender and let the mushrooms guide him. Stigmatized in law and medicine for the past half-century, psychedelics are in the midst of a sudden revival, with a growing body of research suggesting that the mind-altering compounds could upend psychiatric care. Governments in several places have cautiously started to open access, and as Oregon voters approved a broad drug decriminalization plan in 2020, they also backed an initiative to allow the use of mushrooms as therapy.

Persons: Alex Beck, Beck, Josh Goldstein, “, ” Organizations: Marine Corps Locations: nether, Oregon

SALEM, Ore. (AP) — The Oregon Court of Appeals on Monday asked the state's highest court to decide whether Republican state senators who carried out a record-setting GOP walkout this year can run for reelection. Oregon voters last year overwhelmingly approved the ballot measure that created the amendment following GOP walkouts in the Legislature in 2019, 2020 and 2021. They and Oregon Department of Justice attorneys on the opposite side of the case jointly last month asked the appeals court to send the matter straight to the state Supreme Court. The appeals court on Monday formally asked the Oregon Supreme Court to take the case, said Todd Sprague, spokesman for the Oregon Judicial Department. The senators insist that the way the amendment to the state constitution is written means they can seek another term.

Persons: LaVonne Griffin, Valade, “, Oregonians, ” Griffin, Griffin, Todd Sprague, Sprague, Sen, Bill Hansell, Tim Knopp, they’ve, ” Knopp, Ben Morris Organizations: Oregon, Monday, Appeals, Oregon Department of Justice, Oregon Supreme, Oregon Judicial Department, Oregon Republicans, Democrat Locations: SALEM, Ore, Oregon, Statehouses, Montana , Tennessee, United States, U.S, Rhode Island, Rutland , Massachusetts

Epic Healing Eugene — Oregon’s first licensed psilocybin service center — opened in June, marking the state’s unprecedented step in offering the mind-bending drug to the public. The clients can't buy mushrooms to go, and they must stay at the service center until the drug wears off. Oregon Psilocybin Services spent two years establishing regulations and began accepting license applications in January. She expects Oregon’s psilocybin program, currently receiving millions in taxpayer dollars, to be fully supported by licensing fees by mid-2025. Little, brown psychedelic mushrooms can be found growing in fields or in the woods, but they can closely resemble poisonous varieties.

Persons: Eugene — Oregon’s, Angela Allbee, ”, ” Allbee, It’s, Eugene, Brian Lindley, Jeanette Small, Allbee, Cathy Jonas, Jonas, “, Gared Hansen, Hansen, " Hansen, that’s Organizations: Food and Drug Administration, FDA, Oregon Psychiatric Physicians Association, Services, Ashland, Service Locations: EUGENE, Eugene, Colorado, Oregon, United States, Bend, San Francisco, Springfield , Oregon, Pink Buffalo

☆ Oregon’s Hard-Drug Decriminalization Policy Is a Disaster - The New York Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-01 | by ( Bret Stephens | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

How soon is too soon to call a progressive and libertarian policy obsession a public policy fiasco? In the case of Oregon’s Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act, better known as Measure 110, the moment can’t come soon enough. The Drug Policy Alliance, which spent millions to help pass the measure, called it “the biggest blow to the drug war to date” and celebrated its supposed success in a slick video. “Often, she says, someone is passed out in front of the lobby’s door, blocking her entrance. The other day, a man lurched in, lay down on a Forte couch, stripped off his shirt and shoes and refused to leave.”

Persons: “, Jennifer Myrle, Jan Hoffman, Jordan Gale, ” Organizations: Drug Policy Alliance, Forte Portland Locations: Oregon, Forte

For the past two and a half years, Oregon has been trying an unusual experiment to stem soaring rates of addiction and overdose deaths. The aim is to reserve prosecutions for large-scale dealers and address addiction primarily as a public health emergency. But its street population was growing, especially after the anti-police protests that had spread around the country that summer. Since then, Oregon’s overdose rates have only grown. Some politicians and community groups are calling for Measure 110 to be replaced with tough fentanyl possession laws.

Organizations: Oregon voters Locations: Oregon, Portland

Democrat Tina Kotek has won the race for governor in Oregon, NBC News projects, narrowly defeating Republican Christine Drazan. With her victory Kotek will be one of the first out lesbian governors in the United States. She joins another out lesbian governor-elect, Democrat Maura Healey of Massachusetts, in making history in the 2022 midterms. Drazan came close, bombarding Kotek with relentless attacks over record-breaking crime and homelessness and tying her to term-limited Democratic Gov. Her victory suggests those messages may have broken through to Oregon voters.

Oregon voters will determine Tuesday whether to pass stricter gun laws — the only ballot measure nationwide that addresses gun violence. Supporters, including shooting survivors in the state and across the country, say Oregon Measure 114 is necessary to reduce gun injuries and deaths. Everytown for Gun Safety, a nonprofit group that advocates gun control, said 55% of mass shootings since 2009 have involved firearms with high-capacity magazines. During a recent virtual news conference, a handful of people who have experienced mass shootings in Oregon voiced their support for the ballot proposition. Deschutes County Sheriff Shane Nelson, who is also president of the nonprofit Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association, said it would cost local agencies over $49 million annually.

Christine Drazan, the Republican nominee in the tight three-way race for governor in Oregon, is ratcheting up attacks on Democrat Tina Kotek on homelessness and education in a new ad that will launch later Monday. The 30-second ad, shared first with NBC News ahead of its release, will run statewide on television and on digital. It is part of a weekly ad buy for more than $1 million, Drazan campaign spokesperson John Burke said. “Leaders like Tina Kotek and Kate Brown have let us down,” Drazan says in the ad in a direct-to-camera appeal. Oregon voters have not elected a Republican governor since 1982.

☆ The U.S. has never had a lesbian governor. These two women could change that.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( Matt Lavietes | Matt Lavietes Is A Reporter For Nbc Out. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +8 min

And in 2014 she broke barriers again, becoming the nation’s first out lesbian elected state attorney general. Nearly 3,000 miles west, Kotek became the country’s first out lesbian speaker of a state House of Representatives in 2013. This coming Election Day, these lesbian trailblazers could shatter glass ceilings once more, simultaneously becoming the first out lesbians ever elected governor in the United States. Kate Brown, who is bisexual and became the first openly LGBTQ person to be elected governor in 2015, and Colorado Gov. This past summer, some of those threats were pointedly directed at the LGBTQ community in Massachusetts’ state capital.

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