Meth should NOT be legalized. I can see cocaine and heroin, but meth poses significant harm to those other than the user. Those idiots who cook meth in clandestine labs risk blowing their surroundings to smithereens, so meth is a public safety hazard. Legalizing meth only leads to more potential harm to not only the user but his or her neighbors. Good people should not be subjected to that kind of risk.
It's not legalized, though. It's decriminalized, which means people caught in possession of small amounts of the drug will no longer be thrown in jail and branded a criminal. Dealing and manufacturing is still criminalized.
All I know is, I've seen too many friends affected by drug addiction and I come from an area that was beaten pretty bad by it. Jail/prison does not help. It only makes their life a hell of a lot more difficult, which in turn pushes them deeper into drugs in many cases. What they need is proper treatment. Addiction is simply not a criminal justice issue, and the system is not equipped to handle it.
Virginia said this perhaps much better than myself.
1.) "Decriminalization" is NOT "Legalization".
2.) I have seen firsthand how addiction to Hard Drugs has impacted the lives of friends, co-workers, neighbors, and even family members, in relatively small "rural" communities in places where we all know each other, and word gets around the grapevine
real fast....
3.) This proposal was actually first promoted by top Law Enforcement officials throughout Oregon, including County Sheriffs and Police Chiefs in most parts of the State.
http://portlandobserver.com/news/2016/oct/04/new-approach-drugs/4.) The fundamental concept is that hard drug addiction is a medical issue, and not a criminal issue, so long as individuals don't commit other crimes to feed their addition.
5.) So many other posters have made excellent points regarding the cost of incarceration for non-violent drug addicts, versus alternative diversion programs for tax-payers.
6.) The societal costs of drug addiction are ultimately hidden costs (Externalities), that are absorbed elsewhere, even after looking at the costs to Taxpayers when it comes to incarceration in City and County Jails, let alone in the State Pens in Oregon....
7.) Oregon actually has the 3rd highest % of Medicaid expansion programs under ACA (Behind Kentucky and West Virginia). These programs actually fund addiction programs to an extent that private insurance does not.... Anyone tried to look at the cost of a three week in-patient service under your employer insurance if you want to quit your drug addiction?
Quitting drug addiction in America is only for the Rich it seems....
8.) Oregon has a massive problem with Meth addiction, one of the first States hit hard, which I recall Hunter Thompson mentioned in this book.
It started with Biker Gangs, and quickly spread to 3rd shift workers in the factories and Timber Mills of Oregon in the '70s and '80s, not to mention Long Haul Truckers running the I-5 corridor from SoCal to Seattle.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hell%27s_Angels:_The_Strange_and_Terrible_Saga_of_the_Outlaw_Motorcycle_Gangshttp://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/meth/etc/synopsis.htmlNow, with the dramatic collapse of decline in decent paying jobs and opportunities in Mill Towns throughout Oregon, it is prevalent, even in the places where it was a minor phenomenon some 10 years back.
Hell, just nine months back spent a week in a cheap hotel on the Oregon Coast, in an economically depressed City, and every time I walked out my door it seemed like I had Tweakers trying to bum smokes off me....
9.) IDK about the morality play that many of y'all are throwing out here.... Drug Addiction is a medical problem and not a criminal problem and should be treated as such.
Unfortunately, it is extremely difficult in America, unless you come from a fairly wealthy background, to have the proper health and support that you need to quit what are extremely dangerous and addictive substances.
10.) Proud to be an Oregonian, and hopefully if this bill becomes law we get the proper support in resourcing from the Federal Government, so that we can address the root causes of substance abuse and addiction, rather than stereotyping drug addicts, or believing that the various 12 step programs alone can solve the issue....
