For years, critics have blamed Oregon’s 2020 ballot measure that decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs for the state’s rising crime and overdose rates. But a new study suggests otherwise.
Researchers from Portland State University’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice released their final report examining the impacts of years of major drug policy changes between 2008 and 2024 on crime and drug-related deaths. The report, created in partnership with the National Institute of Justice, finds little evidence to support claims that Oregon’s drug decriminalization policy caused higher crime and overdose deaths.
The report outlines a decade of Oregon’s drug policy reforms, starting in 2013 when Oregon enacted a law reducing mandatory minimum sentences for marijuana and diverted more drug offenses to probation. Then in 2017, lawmakers passed a law to reclassify moderate drug possession felony offenses to misdemeanors for Schedule 1 or 2 drugs, such as heroin and cocaine…