Here’s Why Oregon Is Walking Back
Its Drug Decriminalization Law


Apr 2, 2024



Oregon reversed course on its high-profile three-year-long experiment to decriminalize drugs,
as Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek signed a bill Monday adding new criminal penalties for drug
possession amid increases in public drug use and opioid-related deaths.





An officer from the US Customs and Border Protection, Trade and Cargo Division
finds Oxycodone pills in a parcel at John F. Kennedy Airport's US Postal Service
facility on June 24, 2019 in New York.
(Photo by JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images)



KEY FACTS

Under the new law, beginning on Sept. 1, drug possession
will be a misdemeanor crime punishable by up to six months
in jail, undoing the decriminalization efforts of Measure 110,
a ballot initiative that made most drug possession offenses
punishable by fines, with the state aiming to focus more on
addiction treatment and services.

Kotek and other state Democrats have emphasized that the
new law still aims to put the focus on treatment and alternatives
to incarceration—the new law also offers pathways to try and
guide individuals away from incarceration, invests in new
addiction services facilities and would expunge future convictions
after three years.

In a signing letter, Kotek appeared to hint at the challenges
that hampered implementation of Measure 110, noting
“success of this policy framework hinges on the ability of
implementing partners to commit to deep coordination at all levels.”

State Democrats came to a bipartisan solution with Republicans,
longtime critics of Measure 110, as the state had significant
increases in overdose deaths and concerns grew about
public drug use.

Unintentional opioid overdose deaths more than tripled in Oregon
between 2019 and 2022, from 280 to 956, according to state data,
and a CDC analysis in 2023 found that drug overdose deaths
increased by 44% in Oregon between October 2022 and October 2023,
the largest increase in any state.



KEY BACKGROUND

Measure 110 was approved by 58% of voters in Oregon in 2020. But since then, even the
measure’s previous backers have been working on a legislative compromise for change
amid concern about drug use across the state. In Portland, city officials passed a September 2023
law banning public drug use amid concern about crime, homelessness and safety. Some
evidence suggests that the law itself was hampered by poor implementation—a joint investigation
by Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica earlier this year found state leaders failed to
implement initiatives to connect those fined by law enforcement with services, and that training
for law enforcement on their role in the process was lacking. A 2023 state audit on the
measure suggested that funding was slow to roll out and that many of the required services
for those struggling with abuse were not running at full capacity.


CHIEF CRITIC

Republican state Rep. Jeff Helfrich told CNN earlier this month that Measure 110 was
“an unmitigated disaster,” noting: “You look at what has happened: open fentanyl,
open drugs on the streets.”



WHAT TO WATCH FOR

The state’s own estimates in March determined the new framework would likely result in
1,333 new convictions each year—still lower than the numbers in the years prior to
decriminalization, but only by around 16%, according to Oregon Public Broadcasting.



CONTRA

It’s not clear how much decriminalization has contributed to the number of overdoses or
drug abuse in the state. At least one New York University study found no evidence to suggest
the law had any link to fatal drug overdoses, but at least one other study from the University
of Toronto found there was a link. Some lawmakers who voted against recriminalizing drugs
feared it would bring a return to law enforcement tactics that overwhelmingly targeted
Black men, according to the Associated Press, with Portland’s Democratic Sen. Lew Frederick
concerned that bringing penalties “will attempt to use the same tactics of the past, and fail,
only to reinforce the punishment narrative that has failed for 50 years.”
The Prison Policy Initiative argued against repealing decriminalization, noting the
Oregon Health Authority had recorded a nearly 300% increase in people seeking addiction
services since Measure 110 was enacted.



CRUCIAL QUOTE

Portland Democratic Mayor Ted Wheeler agreed with the decision to recriminalize drugs,
but was cautious about the change, telling the New York Times: “I hope this isn’t an
excuse for people to turn their backs on the hard work of building a mental health system.”

Drug Law Reform proposals

Published 07 July 2023



Call for decriminalization for personal supply. 

Decriminalization of all drugs for personal supply is one of a number of polices which the
Scottish Government is calling on the UK Government to implement in a new paper on
drug law reform.

The move would allow people found in possession of drugs to be treated and supported
rather than criminalized and excluded. Decriminalization would also mean that without
a criminal record, people in recovery would have a better chance of employment.

The document has been published by the Scottish Government outlining measures which
could be implemented through further devolution, independence, or changes enacted
immediately by the UK Government to support the work being done within existing
powers to reduce drug deaths.


Among the proposals are:

• Decriminalization of all drugs for personal supply progressed
        as part of a wider review of drug laws
  
  
• Immediate legislative changes to allow us to fully and properly
        implement harm reduction measures such as supervised drug
      consumption facilities (rather than the current proposal being
      explored which is constrained by having to work within existing legislation),
      drug checking and increased access to the life saving drug naloxone.
  
  
• a roadmap for further exploration of drug law reform, focused on
      evidence and the reduction of harm, including an update of the
      drug classification system to be based on harms caused
  

The proposals follow recommendations made by the Drug Deaths Taskforce in September 2021.


Minister for Drugs Policy Elena Whitham said:
“These are ambitious and radical proposals, grounded in evidence, that will help save lives."

“We want to create a society where problematic drug use is treated as a health,
not a criminal matter, reducing stigma and discrimination and enabling the person
to recover and contribute positively to society. While we know these proposals will
spark debate, they are in line with our public health approach and would further
our national mission to improve and save lives."

“We are working hard within the powers we have to reduce drug deaths, and
while there is more we need to do, our approach is simply at odds with the
Westminster legislation we must operate within."

“These policies could be implemented by the Scottish Government through the
devolution of further, specific powers to Holyrood including the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 -
or through independence. An immediate way for these policies to be enacted would
be for the UK Government to use its existing powers to change its drug laws."

“Scotland needs a caring, compassionate and human rights informed drugs policy,
with public health and the reduction of harm as its underlying principles, and we
are ready to work with the UK Government to put into practice this progressive policy.”

Swiss capital Bern considers
legal cocaine project

By John Revill
December 20, 20233:03 AM CS




Police display a portion of the six tonnes of cocaine, money and
other material which was seized during a drug bust at an
industrial estate at the police headquarters in
Malaga, Spain, October 25, 2018.
REUTERS/Jon Nazca/File Photo




ZURICH, Dec 20 (Reuters) -

Switzerland's capital is examining a pilot scheme to allow the sale of cocaine for recreational use -
a radical approach to the war on drugs that is not thought to have been tried elsewhere.
Parliament in Bern has supported the idea, which still needs to overcome opposition from the
city government and will also require a change in national law.

Drugs policy around the world is evolving, with the U.S. state of Oregon, for example,
decriminalising possession of small amounts of cocaine in 2021 in favour of drug treatment.

Many European countries, including Spain, Italy and Portugal, no longer have prison sentences
for possession of drugs including cocaine, although nowhere has gone as far as the proposal
under discussion in Bern.

Switzerland is re-examining its stance on the drug after some politicians and experts criticized
complete bans as ineffective, with the proposal - currently in its early stages - following trials
now under way to permit the legal sale of cannabis.
"The war on drugs has failed, and we have to look at new ideas," said Eva Chen, a member of
the Bern council from the Alternative Left Party who co-sponsored the proposal.
"Control and legalisation can do better than mere repression."

HIGH COCAINE USE





Wealthy Switzerland has one of the highest levels of cocaine use in Europe, according to the
levels of illicit drugs and their metabolites measured in waste water, with Zurich, Basel and
Geneva all featuring in the top 10 cities in Europe.

Swiss cities, including Bern, are also showing increasing usage, while prices of cocaine have
halved in the last five years, according to Addiction Switzerland, a non-governmental organisation.

"We have a lot of cocaine in Switzerland right now, at the cheapest prices and the highest quality
we have ever seen," said Frank Zobel, deputy director at Addiction Switzerland.
"You can get a dose of cocaine for about 10 francs these days, not much more than the price for a beer."

Bern's education, social affairs and sport directorate is preparing a report on a possible cocaine trial,
although this does not mean it will definitely take place.
"Cocaine can be life-threatening for both first-time and long-term users. The consequences of an
overdose, but also individual intolerance to even the smallest amounts, can lead to death,"
the Bern government said.

Bern parliament member Chen said it was too early to say how a pilot scheme would develop,
including where the drug would be sold or how it would be sourced.

"We are still far away from potential legalisation, but we should look at new approaches," Chen said.
"That is why we are calling for a scientifically supervised pilot scheme trial."


LEGAL CHANGE NEEDED





For a trial to take place, parliament would have to amend the law banning the recreational use of the drug.

The decision could come in a matter of years, or earlier if the current cannabis schemes - where
the drug is on sale at pharmacies - show successful results, political experts said.
Any legalization would be accompanied by quality controls and information campaigns, Chen said,
with the approach also reducing a lucrative criminal market.

Experts are divided, with even those in favor of the trial concerned about the potential dangers.
"Cocaine is one of the most strongly addictive substances known," said Boris Quednow, group
leader of the University of Zurich's Centre for Psychiatric Research.

He said its risks were in a completely different league to alcohol or cannabis, citing links to
heart damage, strokes, depression and anxiety.

On the other hand, Thilo Beck, from the Arud Zentrum for Addiction Medicine, the largest center
for addiction medicine in Switzerland, said it was time for a more "grown up" policy towards cocaine.

"Cocaine isn't healthy - but the reality is that people use it," said Beck. "We can't change that,
so we should try to ensure people use it in the safest, least damaging way."

Leo, a cocaine user from Geneva, said legalizing's the drug would make treatment easier,
as well as reduce violence and crime linked to supply. It would also make it easier to control
the quality of the drugs on sale.

"Prohibiting drugs doesn't give good results in terms of health policies and prevention,"
Leo told Reuters. "On the contrary, it looks like countries who chose to legalize it or to
depanelize drugs, have better results in terms of prevention and global health policies.

"Switzerland has been courageous in its policies with other drugs,
so I think the next stage should be the legalization of cocaine."

Joe Lieberman,
2000 vice presidential nominee,
dies at 82


The longtime Connecticut senator was the first Jewish American
to be nominated on a major party’s ticket.


Joe Lieberman reemerged the public face of No Labels entering
the 2024 election season.
Gabriella Demczuk for POLITICO


By DAVID COHEN
03/27/2024 05:38 PM EDT


Joe Lieberman, a longtime senator from Connecticut who became the first Jewish American
to be nominated on a major party’s ticket, died Wednesday. He was 82.

Lieberman’s family stated that he died “due to complications from a fall. He was 82 years old.
His beloved wife, Hadassah, and members of his family were with him as he passed.”

Halfway through his 24-year Senate career, Lieberman was chosen as Al Gore’s running mate
for the 2000 presidential election. The ticket lost one of the closest elections in American history.
“No Jew had ever sought such a lofty office,” wrote the authors of “Jews in American Politics.”

“The net effect of the nomination,” they added, “has been to change the perception of what is
possible for Jewish candidates for office for all time.”

Four years later, he sought the Democratic nomination for president, without success.

Lieberman was known as a hawk on foreign affairs, becoming one of the legislative fathers of
the Department of Homeland Security, which was established in response to the terrorist attacks
of Sept. 11, 2001. His penchant for aligning himself with two Republican colleagues,
Sens. John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, particularly when it came
to American military policy in Iraq, cost him his party’s Senate nomination in 2006, but he was
able to win reelection as an independent.

McCain considered picking Lieberman as his running mate on the 2008 GOP presidential ticket
but was persuaded otherwise by Republicans worried that it would cause a rift in the party.

“I completely trusted, liked and worked well with Joe,” McCain wrote in “The Restless Wave.”
“And I still believe, whatever the effect it would have had in some quarters of the party, that
a McCain-Lieberman ticket would have been received by most Americans as a genuine effort
to pull the country together for a change.”

Before and after 2008, Lieberman would frequently join Graham and McCain on overseas trips,
intent on exposing injustice and tinhorn dictators around the globe. In September 2018,
describing a journey with McCain near the end of his life, Lieberman quoted McCain about
their trips: “He says to me: ‘Joey, you and Lindsey and I traveled to places that billionaires can’t go to.’”

In 2023, Lieberman reemerged as the public face of No Labels, a political organization
designed to give Americans a third option in elections, one designed to restore civility and
bring unity to the process.

“The parties are failing the American people because they’re rarely willing to do anything
but attack for political reasons,” he said in an interview.





Joe Lieberman (center), John McCain (left) and Lindsey Graham are seen in
Tbilisi, Georgia, in September 2012 on one of their frequent international trips.
Zurab Kurtsikidze/AP



Joseph Isadore Lieberman was born Feb. 24, 1942, in Stamford, Connecticut, the son of a
liquor store owner. Educated at Yale, he worked as a summer intern for Sen. Abraham Ribicoff
and the Democratic National Committee.

Three years after completing law school at Yale in 1967, he was elected to the Connecticut
State Senate. Lieberman served there for a decade and later for six years (1983-88) as the
state’s attorney general. “He went after various ne’er-do-wells,” according to
“Jews in American Politics,” “including polluters, deadbeat parents and public utilities.”

In 1988, he challenged Sen. Lowell Weicker, a liberal Republican with a reputation as a maverick,
and benefited, not for the last time, from his proximity to the Republican Party on some positions.
He was endorsed, for instance, by William F. Buckley Jr., the noted conservative columnist and
TV host, who loathed Weicker.

Lieberman won by slightly more than 10,000 votes. “Those who voted for me were saying,
‘Thank you, Lowell, for serving 18 years, but it’s time for someone new,’” he said on election night.

There had been other Jewish figures in the Senate before, but Lieberman was unique. As an
Orthodox Jew, he kept the Sabbath, which meant avoiding all business from Friday sundown
to Saturday sundown.

“Religion is a very personal force and a factor in our lives,” his second wife, Hadassah Lieberman,
was quoted as saying in a 1988 Chicago Tribune profile of him. “On Friday nights and Saturdays,
he doesn’t do anything political. That’s a centering factor.” (Years later, Lieberman wrote a book,
“The Gift of Rest: Rediscovering the Beauty of the Sabbath,” that extolled the virtues of escaping
worldly concerns one day a week.)

The newcomer quickly gained a reputation as being very much his own person. “In his first term,”
the Almanac of American Politics wrote, “Joseph Lieberman exerted influence far out of proportion
to his seniority, committee position or political clout, an influence that came from respect for his
independence of mind, civility of spirit and fidelity to causes in which he believes.”

He was a liberal in some areas, such as environmental issues, but he supported some conservative
causes as well, pairing with conservative activist William Bennett to combat sex and violence in
music, movies and video games.

“I think when it comes to pure competency or integrity, that Joe Lieberman is tops,”
then-Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) said in 2000.





This campaign button from 2000 touted the Gore-Lieberman ticket in Hebrew.
POLITICO



In August 2000, he was chosen as Gore’s running mate on the Democratic ticket. He was seen as
helping Gore offer a contrast to the scandals of the era of President Bill Clinton, of whom Lieberman
had been critical during the Monica Lewinsky scandal that led to Clinton’s impeachment.
“Lieberman is the closest thing Democrats have to an anti-Clinton,” the Wall Street Journal opined.

“Miracles happen,” Lieberman said when chosen. “I believe deeply in Al Gore.”

The Washington Post noted: “While critical of Clinton’s personal lapses, the Connecticut senator
has been a largely enthusiastic cheerleader of the administration on substantive issues, and he
praised Gore yesterday as a ‘full partner’ in shaping policy with Clinton. He also indicated he was
prepared to assume the standard vice presidential role of attacking the other ticket — with relish.”

Democrats harbored hopes that Lieberman might bolster Jewish support for Gore in Florida. That
focus turned out to be more appropriate than anyone could have imagined, as the two parties,
having divided the nation’s other electoral votes very nearly evenly, fought a prolonged legal battle
after Election Day over Florida’s decisive 25. Ultimately, it was Republicans George W. Bush and
Dick Cheney who ended up in the White House; a newly prominent Lieberman returned to the Senate.

“Joe was a man of deep integrity who dedicated his life to serving his country,” Gore said in a
statement Wednesday. “He was a truly gifted leader, whose affable personality and strong will
made him a force to be reckoned with.”

After the 9/11 attacks, Lieberman offered legislation that would have created a
Department of Homeland Security. Bush initially opposed it, then offered up his own version
that borrowed heavily from Lieberman’s.

“I think it will help us immediately,” Lieberman said when the bill was signed in November 2002.
He strongly supported Bush’s other efforts to combat terrorism, including the invasions of
Afghanistan and Iraq.




Joe Lieberman announces his candidacy for president at Stamford High School
in his home state on Jan. 13, 2003.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images



With Gore opting not to run again, Lieberman launched a presidential bid. He was not the first
major Jewish presidential candidate — then-Pennsylvania Gov. Milton Shapp had made an
ungainly stab at the Democratic nomination in 1976 — but he seemed to be the first with a
prayer of winning. “I will not hesitate to tell my friends when I think they’re wrong and to tell
my opponents when I think they’re right,” he said when he entered the fray Jan. 13, 2003.

Lieberman’s 2004 presidential bid never took flight. He finished a distant fifth — well behind
fellow New England Democrats John Kerry (the eventual nominee) and Howard Dean — in
New Hampshire and never drew more than 11 percent in any state. His candidacy ended in
early February.

One of the things that hindered him in the 2004 primaries was his closeness to Republicans,
particularly in his support of the increasingly unpopular Iraq War. The next time he was on a
Connecticut ballot, Democrats rejected him: Ned Lamont, a businessperson, topped him in
the party’s August 2006 Senate primary by 10,000 votes.

Undeterred, Lieberman pressed on as an independent. “If the people of Connecticut are good
enough to send me back to Washington as an independent Democrat, I promise them I will
keep fighting for the same progressive new ideas and for stronger national security,” he said.

In November, Lieberman easily defeated Lamont and Republican Alan Schlesinger, who found
himself largely abandoned by leading lights of the GOP, including Rudy Giuliani and Newt Gingrich,
in favor of Lieberman. “We never wavered in our beliefs or in our purpose, did we?” a triumphant
Lieberman asked his supporters on election night.

He continued to caucus with Democrats in the Senate, but in 2008, he opted to back McCain for
the presidency over the Democratic nominee, Barack Obama. He told the
Republican National Convention: “I am here tonight because John McCain’s whole life testifies
to a great truth: Being a Democrat or a Republican is important, but it is nowhere near as
important as being an American.”

Lieberman retired in 2012. One of his last significant stands was against a public option in
Obama’s signature Affordable Care Act, a stance that led aggrieved Democratic strategist
Paul Begala to dub him “Traitor Joe.” According to Sen. Sherrod Brown’s book “Desk 88,”
it was also Lieberman who blocked a provision offering the possibility of allowing those 55
and older from buying into Medicare as part of the Obamacare plan.

But he also led efforts with Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) to end restrictions on gays in the
U.S. military. “We righted a wrong,” Lieberman said after a 65-31 Senate vote in December 2010.

In 2011, he offered up a deficit reduction plan, but found few takers on either side of the aisle.




Joe Lieberman urges regime change in Iran at a 2019 rally.
His support for Israel and opposition to the Iran nuclear deal
led Lieberman to back President Donald Trump on a number
of issues, even though he had supported Hillary Clinton
for the presidency.
Jason DeCrow/AP




After leaving the Senate, Lieberman joined the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative
think tank. “There is an urgent need to rebuild a bipartisan — indeed nonpolitical — consensus
for American diplomatic, economic and military leadership in the world,” he said at the time.

His support for Israel and opposition to the Iran nuclear deal led Lieberman to back
President Donald Trump on a number of issues, even though he had supported Hillary Clinton
for the presidency. When Trump needed a new FBI director in 2017, Lieberman’s name surfaced.

He joined Trump at an event marking the move of the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv
to Jerusalem in May 2018. “I am grateful to President Trump for making this decision,” he said.

Earlier this month, Lieberman wrote a column in the Wall Street Journal attacking
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer for saying that Israel needed to replace
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as its leader.

“While Mr. Schumer’s statement undoubtedly pleased American critics of Israel,” he wrote,
“for the Israelis it was meaningless, gratuitous and offensive.”

In 2018, he offered a deeply felt eulogy for his close friend McCain at the
National Cathedral in Washington, paying tribute to his devotion to American ideals.

“Godspeed, dear friend. May angels sing you to your eternal home,”
Lieberman concluded.

On Wednesday, it fell to Graham, who signed his message “from the Last Amigo,”
to remember both McCain and Lieberman.


“The good news, he is in the hands of the loving God,” Graham said of Lieberman.
“The bad news, John McCain is giving him an earful about how screwed up things are.
Rest in peace, my dear friend.”

LOUIS GOSSETT JR.
1ST BLACK MAN TO WIN SUPPORTING OSCAR DIES







Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a Supporting Actor Oscar, has died.

The actor's nephew said Gossett passed away Thursday night in Santa Monica.
No cause of death has been revealed.







Gossett had a celebrated career, most noticeably earning his groundbreaking Academy Award
for 1982's "An Officer and a Gentleman" ... which he said was a huge affirmation of his position
as a Black actor in his 2010 memoir, "An Actor and a Gentleman."









The trophy had been a long time coming. The NYC-born actor had been working hard in the
movie biz, receiving critical acclaim for his 1964 role in Broadway's "A Raisin in the Sun" and
cementing his stage presence by replacing Billy Daniels in "Golden Boy."








His Hollywood break came when he bagged an Emmy for his role in the 1977 TV series, "Roots."

Louis also won a Golden Globe for the 1991 TV movie, "The Josephine Baker Story."

He's also starred in the movie, "Enemy Mine," the TV series "Sadat" and is also known for
his role as Colonel Charles "Chappy" Sinclair in the "Iron Eagle" film series.








His last credit came in the role of Ol' Mister in the 2023 remake of "The Color Purple."

Gossett revealed in 2010 he had prostate cancer, which was caught in the early stages.








He was married 3 times and is survived by sons Satie -- from his second marriage -- and
Sharron, a chef he adopted after seeing him as a young child on TV during a segment on
kids in desperate situations.





He was 87.