NANCY ROMMELMANN ON PORTLAND’S HANGOVER FROM THE SUMMER OF LOVE: Drugs 1 – Oregon 0.

When I moved to Portland in 2004, the junkies in downtown’s Pearl District, romanticized in Gus Van Sant’s 1989 Drugstore Cowboy, had been replaced by farm-to-table restaurants and a flagship REI store. Portland was on the up, a media darling poised to become the next great American city.

Then came the record scratch that was 2020.

With the nightly riots in Portland entering their seventh month and the air ringing with chants of “DEFUND THE POLICE!,” citizens were asked that November to vote on Ballot Measure 110, the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act. Offering addicts a soft landing rather than jail time – those possessing and using hard drugs in public would face no penalty other than a possible $100 citation, waived should the user voluntarily enter drug treatment – was in step with the year’s anti-carceral mood. Its passage would also give Oregonians the distinction of being the first state in the nation to fully decriminalize drugs.

Dozens of organizations supported Measure 110, from the editorial board of The Oregonian to the Oregon ACLU. Harm reduction advocates saw Measure 110 as a “humane, effective approach that will save lives” and a positive step toward granting bodily autonomy to those who chose to do drugs. Portland’s newly elected progressive district attorney Mike Schmidt said Measure 110 “sends a clear message of strong public support that drug use should be treated as a public health matter rather than a criminal justice matter.”

Measure 110 passed with 59 percent of the vote.

Flash-forward to 2024:

Huge shoutout to @AlexanderSoros, @ChanZuckerberg, and @DrugPolicyOrg who spent so much money to get a bill passed that killed hundreds and was immediately regretted by everyone. https://t.co/bTapPceyXA

— Parker Thayer (@ParkerThayer) March 2, 2024