Deschutes DA, commissioners discuss proposals to tackle addiction crisis, deal with Measure 110

(Update: Adding video, comments from DA, county commissioners)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) – Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels met with county commissioners Wednesday morning to discuss an 11-point proposal by Oregon DAs, sheriffs, police chiefs and cities to address the crisis in drug addiction and needed changes to the voter-approved Measure 110.

Gunnels received a generally warm reaction to the public safety officials' proposals, and toward the end, Commissioner Phil Chang suggested they draft a letter of support to lawmakers who will consider these and other changes during their "short" season early next year.

The policy proposals related to drug possession, drug use, addiction and drug dealing were stated by Gunnels as he represented the Oregon Association Chiefs of Police, Oregon State Sheriff’s Association, Oregon District Attorneys, and the League of Oregon Cities.

In 2019, Deschutes County prosecuted over 700 methamphetamine case, and this year the county is on track to prosecute only 70.

"That doesn't mean that we're doing a great job and we're getting people off of drugs," Gunnels told the board. "It means that the people who are in possession of Measure 110 amounts, which is less than two grams of methamphetamine, which is the vast majority, are being untouched.”

The first item on the list, and the one that Gunnels said was “directly on point” regarding the measure’s much-criticized flaws, is to again make possession of smaller amounts of hard drugs a Class A misdemeanor, rather than a ticket (violation), with the goal of getting more people into treatment.

Gunnels noted that some solutions have a direct correlation to Measure 110 and that the measure failed to recognize that drug addiction is both a pubic health and public safety crisis.

The first six proposals Gunnels presented were classified under restoring public safety solutions. This included reclassifying possession of controlled substance to a misdemeanor and delivery of drugs.

“Recriminalization,” as the DA put it, should bring a “significant improvement in public safety,” along with changes such as a fix for case law that will target drug dealing by redefining the crime of “possession with intent to distribute,” based on federal statute, helping law enforcement better do their job and impose stiffer penalties.

Commissioner Tony DeBone told Gunnels, “I appreciate the simplicity and clarity of these proposals.”

Gunnels continued to stress the current lack of clarity and authority when it comes to those getting caught after delivering drugs.

"You have to have somebody who is in the process of delivering the drugs before you can prosecute them for delivery, which makes it very difficult to hold people accountable who are delivering poison in the community," he said.

DeBone responded: “An officer in the street or a situation where somebody has multiple doses packaged up, ready for distribution, an obvious scenario, but: 'Oh, didn't catch you doing it.' So yeah, that is interesting.”

Some of the proposals also align with other efforts now in play, such as this week's recommendations from Gov. Tina Kotek and a Portland task force that include to recriminalize public drug use.

Others pose funding challenges, including the need to invest far more in things like specialty/treatment courts, such as the now-shelved Deschutes County Drug Court that all involved said was very successful, but ran into staffing and other challenges, including the cost.

The group's other five proposals are categorized and treatment and community focused solutions. One would allow police to initiate up to 72-hour “welfare holds” for intoxicated people, which in turn will mean the need for more stabilization centers, rather than burden jails or hospitals further.

Chang noted his concerns to that policy, "These people are going to jail for short periods of time, clearing out the system to some degree, and not having a sense of of how much substance their body can take when they when they get out. Then they are going and overdosing and killing themselves. So, I mean, I would have some concerns about about this 72-hour hold.”

Gunnels agreed with Chang about the 72-hour hold, then redirected it to another point, dedicated sobering and stabilization facilities and opioid quick response teams.

"People on opioids go through severe withdrawals when they're taken away from those drugs," Gunnels said, "and this proposal would include not only treatment options but withdrawal support outside of a hospital setting, but in a secure medical facility.”

The full set of proposals can be viewed below – and no one speaking Wednesday said it would be easy or cheap to accomplish.

Chang said the issues with meeting the need for more residential treatment centers are “more of an investment problem than a land use problem.”

DeBone thanked Gunnels for his involvement and said it’s now up to lawmakers to take up and debate the proposals. Having attended a meeting in Portland on Monday, he said, “This is a high priority for everyone.”

Chang agreed: “It is time for the Legislature to take action.”

“This is a comprehensive bundle that I can see, with all of these pieces, doing a lot of good,” he continued. “But if people cherry-pick, want to do this thing or that thing, they could end up doing things that have perverse negative consequences. We need to stress that all of these pieces need to move forward."

“A couple are massive investments,” he acknowledged. “But we’re saying these are necessary investments to get a handle on this crisis. … I think we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars at the local level, much less the state level.”

Chang also noted the state already had “inadequate drivers to get people into treatment and inadequate treatment capacity” before Measure 110 ever arose. “Now, still, this Legislature could turn the dial more on drivers to get people into treatment and treatment capacity.”

Commissioner Patti Adair was not at Wednesday's meeting, but DeBone noted that she was quoted as having moved from the camp of repealing Measure 110 entirely to supporting reforms.

You can watch the meeting here: