Lane County officials are backing a bill that seeks to increase the accountability of a program that has contributed about $800 million of cannabis tax revenue to local behavioral health and drug-addiction recovery services statewide since 2021.
Senate Bill 1583 comes on the heels of a Secretary of State’s audit, released in December, that found the Oregon Health Authority cannot demonstrate whether access to care for behavioral health and addiction has increased for patients of organizations that receive the funding.
The bill would shift the state’s administration of those grant awards from the Oregon Health Authority to the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. The bill also would require the commission to analyze the most effective ways to address substance abuse in the state, with the goal of awarding grants to programs that work in local jurisdictions…