Don't Look Away
What wasn't in a story I wrote about my city, and what it means when we want to "disappear" people who have nowhere to go.
Hello friends,
Recently, Oregon has drawn a lot of attention for Measure 110, the first-in-the-nation effort to decriminalize possession of small amounts of illicit drugs, such as fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamines and heroin. Most of that attention has focused on Portland, of course, in part because this city makes it easy to walk or bike around and look at its problems.
My editors at Stateline wanted me to examine how Oregon’s rollout would affect other states considering decriminalization. I interviewed 15 or so people for the story as well as read, watched or listened to dozens of other pieces on Measure 110, which voters passed in 2020. My piece was focused on policy; it did not look directly at the lived experience of people with substance use disorders. Plenty of other news outlets have done just that, very well.
I thought I’d share a few observations that didn’t make it into my own story, which focuses on whether what has happened in Oregon will make it more challenging for other states to approach addiction as a healthcare matter, not a criminal one.