Politics
Oregon Drug Decriminalization And Treatment Measure Qualifies For November Ballot
It’s official: Oregon voters will decide in November whether to pass a measure to decriminalize drug possession while using marijuana tax revenue to fund expanded substance misuse treatment services.
The secretary of state’s office announced on Tuesday that activists behind the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act have collected enough valid signatures from registered voters to place the measure on the ballot.
The news comes one day after organizers of a separate Oregon measure to legalize psilocybin mushrooms for therapeutic use announced that their petitioning drive earned enough support for ballot access, though the state has yet to formally verify those submissions.
Officials said that out of the 163,473 total signatures the drug decriminalization campaign turned in, 116,622 were valid —putting them just over the 112,020 needed to qualify.
“This initiative will save lives, and we urgently need it right now because the pandemic has exacerbated Oregon’s addiction epidemic,” Janie Gullickson, who is a chief petitioner for the measure and is the executive director of the Mental Health and Addiction Association of Oregon, said in a press release.
BREAKING: IP 44 has qualified for the ballot! Oregon voters will now have the chance to vote for a more humane and effective approach to drug addiction. More here: https://t.co/sD5dWeSaZS #orpol #moretreatment pic.twitter.com/mGB5GOsbih
— More Treatment. A Better Oregon. (@moretreatment) July 1, 2020
The proposal places an emphasis on expanding drug treatment programs through the use of funds derived from existing cannabis tax revenues. It would also reframe drug addiction as a health issue by decriminalizing illegal substances. Low-level possession would instead be considered a civil infraction punishable by a maximum $100 fine and no jail time.
There were 8,903 drug simple drug possession arrests in the state in fiscal year 2018, according to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission—or more than one every hour.
“Oregon law enforcement need to stop making these kinds of arrests, targeting our communities, and ruining lives by giving people criminal records,” Kayse Jama, executive director of Unite Oregon, which is endorsing the measure, said. “The need for this measure is more urgent right now more than ever, because jails and prisons have turned into contagion hotspots during the pandemic.”
The initiative has also been endorsed by more than 50 other organizations, including ACLU Oregon, United Seniors of Oregon, Oregon Latino Health Coalition, Oregon State Council For Retired Citizens, the NAACP of Eugene, the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, Human Rights Watch and Drug Policy Action. Two currently serving district attorneys and two former U.S. attorneys have also backed the measure.
Here’s a status update on other drug policy reform campaigns across the country:
Washington State activists had planned to pursue a similar drug decriminalization and treatment measure through the ballot, but citing concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak, they announced last week that they will be targeting the legislature instead.
In Washington, D.C., a campaign to decriminalize a broad range of psychedelic substances is nearing the end of its signature drive.
Idaho activists behind a medical marijuana legalization initiative could get a second wind after a federal judge said last week that the state must make accommodations for a separate ballot campaign due to signature gathering complications due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Montana activists recently turned in more than 130,000 signatures to qualify a pair of marijuana legalization initiatives for the November ballot.
Nebraska activists are approaching a deadline this month to submit signatures for a proposed medical cannabis initiative.
In Arizona, the organizers of a legalization effort asked the state Supreme Court to instruct the secretary of state to allow people to sign cannabis petitions digitally using an existing electronic system that is currently reserved for individual candidates seeking public office. That request was denied, but advocates are still optimistic about the chances of making the ballot.
Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak and stay-at-home mandates, measures to legalize marijuana for medical and recreational purposes qualified for South Dakota’s November ballot.
The New Jersey legislature approved putting a cannabis legalization referendum before voters as well.
And in Mississippi, activists gathered enough signatures to qualify a medical cannabis legalization initiative for the ballot—though lawmakers also approved a competing (and from advocates’ standpoint, less desirable) medical marijuana proposal that will appear alongside the campaign-backed initiative.
A campaign to legalize cannabis in Missouri officially gave up its effort for 2020 due to signature collection being virtually impossible in the face of social distancing measures.
North Dakota activists said they plan to continue campaign activities for a marijuana legalization initiative, but it’s more likely that they will seek qualification for the 2022 ballot.
