Penna Dexter

One disturbing result of the recent elections was a vote in the state of Oregon to decriminalize the possession of all illegal drugs. Roughly sixty percent of Oregon voters supported Measure 110, which makes it no longer a crime to possess a “non-commercial” amount of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and a few other drugs. An individual caught with any of these substances faces a fine of $100, which can be avoided by undergoing a health assessment. The bill also establishes a new state-wide drug treatment system funded, in part, by tax revenue from marijuana sales and state prison savings. Back in the 90’s Oregon became one of the early states to legalize medical marijuana. In this election, Arizona, Montana, New Jersey, and South Dakota joined the 35 states where it’s legal to possess marijuana for medical and/or recreational reasons. The idea is that people suffering with addiction should be rehabilitated, not punished. Oregonians passed another ballot measure which legalizes the use of psilocybin —the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms — for mental health treatment. The District of Columbia did the same. This substance has previously been decriminalized in Oakland and Santa Cruz, California, and Denver, Colorado. Psilocybin is a Schedule 1 drug associated with a high potential for abuse and addiction. Drug legalization may be fashionable, but it’s not a positive trend. Its bad effects will be felt by children who are not even taking drugs, but whose parents are. Naomi Schafer Riley, Resident Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the Hudson Institute’s John Walters write in The Wall Street Journal, that “more drug availability means more drug use which increases interpersonal violence which includes abuse and neglect of children.” And as to the current “wisdom” emphasizing treatment over punishment, they point out that “overdose deaths have skyrocketed, from fewer than 17,000 deaths in 1999 to more than 67,000 in 2018.” We should end this destructive experiment with drug legalization.