

- Multnomah county ballot drop box near me registration#
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In 2001, Portugal dramatically changed its approach and decriminalized all drugs. Oregon supporters of decriminalization point to Portugal as a reform model. "My drug of choice from beginning to end was alcohol," he says, "but the last 10 years was dominated by crystal meth." "Our big problem is our health care system doesn't want it, is not prepared for it, doesn't have the resources for it and honestly doesn't have the leadership to begin to incorporate that ," says Marshall, who is in long-term recovery himself.

Realizing the measure's promise has sharply divided the recovery community, alienated some in law enforcement and left big questions about whether the Legislature will fully fund the measure's promised expansion of care.Įven many recovery leaders here who support ending the criminalization of addiction are deeply concerned the state basically jumped off the decriminalization cliff toward a fractured, dysfunctional and underfunded treatment system that's not at all ready to handle an influx of more people seeking treatment.Īdvocates for decriminalization "don't understand the health care side, and they don't understand recovery," says Mike Marshall, co-founder and director of the group Oregon Recovers. And this helps get us closer to that."īut five months since decriminalization went into effect, the voter-mandated experiment is running into the hard realities of implementation. It's really important to me that we smash the stigma on addiction and drug use.

"We can't nibble around the edges on this. People's lives have been destroyed," says Tera Hurst, executive director of the Oregon Health Justice Recovery Alliance, which campaigned last year to pass decriminalization and is now pushing to see it's fully funded and implemented. "The War on Drugs has been primarily really waged on communities of color. "We can't nibble around the edges on this," she says. Tera Hurst, executive director of the Oregon Health Justice Recovery Alliance, says the state's decriminalization marks bold systemic change. And while critics everywhere have long called the drug war a racist, inhumane fiasco that fails to deliver justice or health, Oregon is the first to take a leap toward radically changing those systems. drug policy, expands funding and access to addiction treatment services using tax revenue from the state's pot industry as well as from expected savings from a reduction in arrests and incarceration.įor years Oregon has ranked near the top of states with the highest rates of drug and alcohol addiction and near the very bottom nationally in access to recovery services. The measure, a major victory for advocates pushing for systemic change in U.S. That fee can get waived if you get a health screening from a recovery hotline. Oregonians overwhelmingly passed Measure 110 that makes possession of small amounts of cocaine, heroin, LSD and methamphetamine, among other drugs, punishable by a civil citation - akin to a parking ticket - and a $100 fine.
Multnomah county ballot drop box near me registration#
Signatures that match the voter’s registration get sorted into green bins, while signatures that don’t match are put aside in yellow bins that will go to forensic experts for a second check.The War On Drugs: 50 Years Later Overdose Deaths Rose During The War On Drugs, But Efforts To Reduce Them Face Backlash
Multnomah county ballot drop box near me code#
It begins at the dropbox, where an election official will then collect it and bring it into “The Sorting Room.” Inside is a machine that verifies two things: it checks that the nine-digit code on the ballot is valid, and it checks the voter’s signature. This year, KOIN 6 News was given a behind-the-scenes look at how Multnomah County processes every voter’s ballot. Voters and election officials have a heightened focus on ensuring the security of this election. “Because we’re usually caught up by Monday night, we don’t have shifts starting until later in the day and that’s because we know we’re going to go all the way into the night, so we need people to be fresh,” explained Elections Director Tim Scott.

A voter drops off her ballot at an official Multnomah County drop box location, Octo(KOIN)
