Users now have the option of paying $100 fines or attending new, free addiction recovery centers, instead of being arrested, going to trial, and facing possible jail time.
The votes are in — possession of small amounts of heroin, cocaine, LSD and other hard drugs were decriminalized in Oregon under a ballot measure.
Measure 110 drastically changes how Oregon’s justice system treats those who are caught with small amounts for personal use.
More than 100 organizations endorsed the measure, including the Oregon Chapter of the American College of Physicians, Oregon Nurses Association, Oregon School Psychologists’ Association, Oregon Academy of Family Physicians, the ACLU, and others.
Users now have the option of paying $100 fines or attending new, free addiction recovery centers, instead of being arrested, going to trial, and facing possible jail time.
Oregon was also the country’s first state to decriminalize marijuana possession. Tax revenue from retail marijuana sales will fund those recovery centers.
According to the United Nations, countries like Portugal, the Netherlands, and Switzerland have already decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs.
