Subject: Drug policy reform To: [email protected], [email protected]
CC: [email protected]

I am writing as your constituent to urge you to consider evidence-based drug policy reform, specifically the restoration of blanket decriminalization and exploration of regulated drug dispensaries. I base this request on the recently published Portland State University study “Examining the Multifaceted Impacts of Drug Decriminalization on Public Safety, Law Enforcement, and Prosecutorial Discretion” (2024), which provides crucial insights into Oregon’s drug policy experiences.

The Evidence Supporting Decriminalization

The PSU study’s comprehensive 16-year analysis reveals that Oregon’s brief decriminalization period (2021-2024) did not cause the public safety crisis often attributed to it. Key findings include:

• No sustained impact on violent crime: Violent crime rates remained stable throughout decriminalization
• Minimal property crime effects: While property crimes briefly increased post-M110, they returned to pre-pandemic levels and showed no lasting association with decriminalization
• Overdose deaths driven by fentanyl, not policy: The tragic rise in overdoses was primarily attributable to fentanyl saturation in the drug market and COVID-19 impacts, not decriminalization itself

Current Prohibition Wastes Critical Resources

The report documents enormous resource expenditure under criminalization:

• Pre-decriminalization: Over 23,000 annual PCS arrests consuming thousands of officer hours
• Court system burden: Hundreds of thousands of possession cases clogging prosecutors and courts
• Minimal treatment connection: Even at peak enforcement, only 7% of those needing treatment were reached through arrests

Law enforcement officers themselves noted that defelonization (reducing possession from felony to misdemeanor in 2017) was actually beneficial, reducing dangerous high-speed chases while maintaining their enforcement tools.

A Path Forward: Regulated Dispensaries

While decriminalization reduces harm, it doesn’t address the fundamental problem: the illegal drug market that fuels violence, contamination, and smuggling. Consider how alcohol prohibition created identical problems—violence, contamination, resource waste—that ended only with legal regulation.

State-run dispensaries for currently illegal substances would:

1. Eliminate smuggling incentives: Remove the profit motive driving cartels and trafficking
2. Ensure product safety: Provide known, uncontaminated substances reducing overdose risks
3. Generate revenue: Fund treatment and harm reduction services
4. Free law enforcement: Allow police to focus on actual public safety threats
5. Reduce court burden: Eliminate thousands of possession cases annually

Implementation Considerations

The PSU study emphasizes the importance of stakeholder buy-in and careful implementation. Any regulated system should:

• Include law enforcement, public health, and community representatives in planning
• Maintain robust treatment and harm reduction services (as M110’s BHRN networks demonstrated success)
• Implement graduated access based on age and health assessments
• Direct revenues toward treatment, education, and community support

Conclusion

The evidence is clear: criminalization wastes resources while failing to reduce drug use or improve public safety. Decriminalization is a necessary first step, but regulated access addresses the root cause—the dangerous illegal market itself.

I urge you to champion evidence-based policy that prioritizes public health, reduces incarceration, eliminates cartel profits, and allows our law enforcement to focus on genuine threats to community safety.

Thank you for your consideration. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this further and provide additional research supporting these positions.