Less than three years ago, Oregon became the first state in the U.S. to decriminalize minor possession of street drugs through an initiative that also promised to expand addiction-treatment services to people experiencing substance use disorder.
Yet voters who overwhelmingly approved Measure 110 are already souring on the law amid a disastrous rollout and an explosion of fentanyl that’s fueled overdose deaths, petty crime and jarring scenes of public drug use in Portland and other cities.
Meanwhile, a coalition of political, civic and business leaders is now seeking to unwind the centerpiece of the law by again treating minor drug possession as a misdemeanor crime.
On the latest Beat Check, I speak with Oregonian/OregonLive reporter Noelle Crombie about the challenges confronting Measure 110 and the efforts by its proponents to protect it.
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