Social media users have blasted 'crazy' Oregon voters for deciding to decriminalize personal possession of all drugs, including he...
Social media users have blasted 'crazy' Oregon voters for deciding to decriminalize personal possession of all drugs, including heroin and methamphetamine.
The proposal, known formally as Oregon Ballot Measure 110, passed on Tuesday, with 58.8 percent support.
Under the new measures, instead of going to trial and facing possible jail time, a person found with the hard drugs in their possession will have the option of paying a $100 fine or attending new 'addiction recovery centers'.
While the proposal has been praised by drug reform activists, many on social media expressed shock that Oregonians had voted to pass the measure with such broad support.
'I'm so p***ed that Oregon passed 110. You really just decriminalized heroin. The drug that KILLED my cousin. He only shot up a 'personal use' amount and now he's gone,' one railed on Twitter.
Oregon has become the first state in the United State to decriminalize personal possession of all drugs - including heroin and cocaine. However, the move has left some on social media shocked and enraged
Many on social media reacted negatively to the extreme measure, which passed with broad support
A second person blasted: 'All drugs? Really? So you Oregon people are okay with people walking around with heroin and needles for the potential of some little kid to get stuck by one. Sorry that's just crazy to me.'
A lawyer chimed in also expressing opposition to the move, stating: 'Decriminalize heroin, cocaine, LSD. Even as a defense attorney I can't get behind that one.'
Another added that the changes were 'bonkers and seemed really dangerous for public health'.
Dozens invariably described Oregon voters as 'insane' and 'deranged'.
However, not everyone on social media was opposed to the move.
One supporter wrote: 'What I need you all to understand is that Oregon is not making heroin and other hard drugs legal— they are DECRIMINALIZING. They are en-route to becoming a rehabilitation state. Focusing more on the addiction itself, rather than just putting folks in the system.'
Not everyone on social media was opposed to the move. Some said addicts needed rehabilitation and treatment as opposed to jail time, and hoped that Oregon could follow in the footsteps of Portugal
A voter casts his ballot in Oregon on November 3
Others concurred, saying addicts needed rehabilitation and treatment, as opposed to jail time.
Some even claimed that Oregon could follow in the footsteps of Portugal, which has seen dramatic drops in overdoses and drug related crime since it decriminalized drugs in 2001.
'Oregon has been ravaged by the meth and heroin epidemics. It has a sizeable homeless population tied to the drug use. Portugal went through the same thing and decriminalization worked for them. I hope it does in Oregon too,' one wrote.
Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which was behind the hard-drugs measure, praised Oregonians for supporting the move.
'Today's victory is a landmark declaration that the time has come to stop criminalizing people for drug use.'Measure 110 is arguably the biggest blow to the war on drugs to date,' she stated on Tuesday evening.
Under the new measures, instead of going to trial and facing possible jail time, a person found with the hard drugs in their possession would have the option of paying a $100 fine or attending new 'addiction recovery centers'
Among those also in support of the measure were the Oregon Nurses Association and the Oregon chapter of the American College of Physicians.
The ballot question received a $500,000 donation from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Dr. Priscilla Chan, who favor a health-based approach to drug addiction.
Oregon also passed Measure 109, legalizing the controlled therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms.
A tax hike of $2 was also passed in Oregon on cigarettes. This measure would increase Oregon's cigarette tax by $2 per pack — from $1.33 to $3.33 — bump up the cap on cigar taxes to $1 per cigar and add a 65 percent tax on electronic cigarettes and vaping products, which are not currently taxed.
In addition to legalizing the controlled therapeutic use of psilocybin mushrooms, Oregon also put a $2 tax hike on cigarettes
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