Amid calls for Measure 110 repeal, Oregon DAs, sheriffs, police chiefs and cities band together to propose major changes
(Update: Adding video, comments from Rep. Kropf, Sens. Knopp & Lieber, Deschutes County DA)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Three months after a new joint legislative committee began public meetings to seek comprehensive solutions to Oregon's drug and addiction crisis, amid many calls for either repeal or major reworking of Measure 110, specific proposals are coming into view, but the strenuous debate is far from over.
"What we're doing as a legislative body is saying, 'What do we need to do, what kind of investments, policies do we need to make sure folks have the addiction services that they need? How do we get people from crisis into treatment?'" state Rep. Jason Kropf (D-Bend) told NewsChannel 21 Monday.
Kropf is part of the bipartisan committee that began meeting in September to focus on drug addiction and community safety and consider changes to Measure 110.
In November 2020, Oregon voters, by a 17% margin, approved the measure that decriminalizes possession and use of small amounts of hard drugs, in favor of getting people into treatment.
State Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber (D-Beaverton) said Monday, "Having a joint committee like this is highly unusual. It's unusual to have as many committee hearings as we're having outside of the legislative session, and that is part of the urgency that we feel to address the issue."
Lieber, who is co-chairing the committee with Kropf, said, "Many don't feel safe in their communities, and we're looking across the state to make sure we can make some real change here."
The Joint Interim Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response said from the start that it's pursuing urgent public health and public safety solutions and will provide oversight during the 2024 session and beyond.
Kropf said, "Myself and Senator Lieber are both former prosecutors. We need to make sure we're doing things to stem the supply side of drugs into our communities."
Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp, R-Bend, issued a statement after the meeting last week's meeting, saying the panel heard from "primarily special interest activists defending the measure they funded, with the goal of spreading this disaster to every state in the nation.
"At the end of the day, Oregon voters know that they were sold a bill of goods with Measure 110. They know that we need to start fresh, and we had better do it now," Knopp said.
“In the upcoming session, we have got to recriminalize dealing, possessing, and publicly using deadly drugs, give law enforcement the tools they need to provide accountability that will require treatment for addiction, and allow counties to address needs at the local level. Anything short of that would be failure,” Knopp added.
Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels told NewsChannel 21 on Monday he believes users need a criminal penalty attached to citations.
"We've had about 1% compliance with those e-violation tickets," Gunnels said. "I've seen it time and time again. People need to hit rock bottom before they see that they need to get treatment, get help, get clean and get their lives back in order."
Recently, Oregon's district attorneys, police chiefs and sheriff's associations, along with the League of Oregon Cities, issued a joint list of policy recommendations for dealing with the worsening addiction issues. Gunnels will be speaking with county commissioners about their proposals on Wednesday:
