This summer, there has been a lot of national attention focused on the effects of Oregon’s Measure 110, which decriminalized the use and possession of small amounts of drugs including methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl starting in 2021.

A New York Times article — “A Drug User’s ‘Paradise’” in the Aug. 2 print edition — rightly stated that life has changed for almost everyone in Portland due to open drug use in public spaces and a growing population of people living on the streets.

In a follow-up opinion column titled “The Hard-Drug Decriminalization Disaster,” Bret Stephens refers to Measure 110 as a public policy fiasco and a catastrophe. I have to agree with his assessment.

As someone who lives in rural Oregon but spent a lot of time in Portland this past year, I can attest to the fact that it’s not just an urban problem. On my short walk between home and work, I often encounter a handful of homeless people at a small park in the center of town, some clearly drug affected or in mental anguish.

A short walk along Pendleton’s river parkway will take me to another park where I have witnessed frequent public drug use, as well as EMTs administering naloxone to reverse an overdose.

An anti-drug task force in Hermiston recently raided a house and seized over 6,400 fentanyl pills, other illegal drugs and guns.

Our state has a lot of work ahead to reckon with the failures of Measure 110 in light of the growing fentanyl epidemic. We need to greatly improve our ability to mandate and provide addiction treatment and mental health support, as well as continuing the work being done to shelter homeless families and individuals.

A majority of rural Oregon voters voted against Measure 110 in November 2020, while a majority of urban voters voted for it. Recent polling found over 60% of voters statewide would now support the repeal of some or all of Measure 110.

In this issue of The Other Oregon, you won’t find any articles on this topic, but it is top-of-mind for me and many Oregonians. Read on to learn more about other things going on in rural Oregon.

— Kathryn B. Brown