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Fentanyl, Failures, and Fresh Starts: America’s Search for a 'Smart on Crime' Solution.

Writer's picture: Ronan NauertRonan Nauert

In his launch ad for Oregon Governor 2 years ago, Nick Kristof said “If you want to see what happens when our politics so badly fails the people it’s supposed to serve, just take a walk through Downtown Portland.” Unfortunately, as any Portlander knows, he is right. Since the start of the pandemic, Portland has seen an explosion in its homeless (if you want to read more about my opinion on housing policy, you can find that here) population, and with it, an explosion of drug abuse, particularly fentanyl. Portland is hardly alone in this challenge. Communities of all types around the country are facing an explosion in drug addiction. But, I believe that this problem, like any problem, can be made better. 


Reducing drug abuse will require nuance, getting beyond the tough-on-crime/soft-on-crime dichotomy, and being smart on crime.” Admittedly, this phrase is vague in itself, but what it means for me is an acknowledgment that there is some truth in the fact that mass incarceration has not worked, but it is also true that forced rehab has not worked.


Rate per 100,000. Credit: Yale News


These opposites can be seen in 2 contrasting examples. On mass incarceration, the United States has an incarceration rate that is 4 times larger than the 2nd highest country, when compared to other developed Western Nations. Despite this, the United States is not safer than most countries. So, this is all to say that I am not receptive to the argument that even more aggressive prosecution will solve America’s drug problem. Still, I am also not persuaded by the argument that completely ending incarceration as a punishment for drug use will be effective. Oregon tried this after voters passed Measure 110, which legalized the possession of small amounts of hard drugs and replaced incarceration with rehabilitation. This solution, too, failed. This year, after just 4 years, Oregon lawmakers repealed Measure 110 because it was unable to deliver on its promise of reducing drug abuse.


However, I do think that Oregon’s new framework for drug laws could be a National model. While it is true that under the new Oregon law that incarnation is the punishment for drug use, the new law makes it a minor sentence and leaves open the possibility for a person to choose to undergo an alternative to incarceration at any point in their sentence. 


Fundamentally, I do believe that rehabilitation is more effective than incarceration, but I also know that for it to be effective, a person needs to want to do it. We need to discard the idea that one method will always work better in all circumstances and instead remind ourselves that no person is the same and each person will require a different approach. 


As I said in my housing article, both parties created this crisis, and now both have the opportunity to fix it.


Photo Credit: AP Photo | Patrick Semansky

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