New Thinking, from the Center for Justice Innovation

New Thinking, from the Center for Justice Innovation


Recriminalization in Oregon

March 19, 2024

Three years ago, Oregon broke with the War on Drugs, decriminalizing the possession of most illicit drugs. The measure promised instead a “health-based approach.” But the legislature has just ended the short-lived experiment.


The law met stiff headwinds from the start: from the arrival of fentanyl on the West Coast to a relentless opposition campaign.


But part of what went wrong was a challenge for any legislation: implementation. How do you make a sweeping new approach work on the ground?


Morgan Godvin was at the frontlines of Oregon’s decriminalization fight. “We have come to a fork in the road,” she says. For now, progress towards an evidence-based approach to drug use “has fallen prey to fear-based policy.”


Full show notes