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Hi everyone,

I'm posting to share a recently published report from our Criminal Justice Policy Research Institute. It is the final report of a three-year, NIJ-funded, mixed-methods project examining Oregon's major drug policy shifts, including Justice Reinvestment (concerted diversion, 2013), defelonization of possession (House Bill 2355, 2015), and Measure 110 (M110, decriminalization, 2021). We also touch on how these effects might shift in the 2024 reversal of M110 under House Bill 4002.

For those working on projects that rely on data from Oregon (and especially Multnomah County), this report may be particularly useful. It provides a comprehensive look at how decriminalization, defelonization, and now re-criminalization have interacted with broader forces like COVID-19 and the emergence of fentanyl.

Among the many findings, we highlight:

• Little evidence supports claims that M110 caused increases in crime or overdose deaths. Instead, the pandemic and fentanyl appear to be the dominant drivers.
• After the 2017 "defelonization," felony drug possession cases dropped while misdemeanors rose, but overall system involvement of defendants remained stable.
• Post-M110, misdemeanor possession charges fell sharply, and drug court enrollments remained steady despite concerns they would decline.
• The 2024 re-criminalization of possession marks a new shift toward deflection, aiming to connect individuals to treatment through law enforcement referrals.

As Oregon implements this deflection model, these findings provide a valuable baseline for comparison and a caution that policy intent must be matched by agency coordination and service capacity.

The full final report available here:  Examining the Multifaceted Impacts of Drug Decriminalization on Public Safety, Law Enforcement, and Prosecutorial Discretion

Other reports we produced in this area can be found here: 

• Year 1: Impacts of Successive Drug Legislation Shifts: Qualitative Observations from Oregon Law Enforcement
• Year 2: An Additive Model of Engagement: Considering the Role of Front-End Criminal Justice Agencies in Treatment Provisions

If your work involves Oregon datasets, drug policy evaluation, or system response to fentanyl and COVID disruptions, this report may help contextualize your analyses.

We hope you find it useful in your work. 

Cheers, 

Chris