I cried when I saw it, tears of joy streaming down my face when I found out Oregon’s ballot initiative to decriminalize possession of illicit drugs[1] had passed. It passed on the birthday of my best friend’s sister, who hung herself in a jail cell, scared and alone, after being incarcerated on a non-violent possession charge. She chose eternal darkness over the horror of withdrawing cold turkey from heroin in a jail cell.
She couldn’t be saved, but many others will be as a result of this life-altering measure enacted in the name of harm reduction.
Starting in February, individuals in Oregon caught with a small amount of drugs for personal use, including cocaine and heroin, will be fined $100[2] instead of being imprisoned. They may also avoid the fine by completing a health assessment at a drug treatment facility. The measure will also expand access to drug and alcohol treatment facilities, harm reduction programs, and housing options that will give the addicted a fair chance at recovery.
Money saved by not incarcerating non-violent drug offenders will be channeled into a fund for further drug and alcohol treatment programs, helping to mitigate the opiate epidemic.
As an addict now nine years into recovery, and the adult child of two addicts, I am overjoyed about these changes in the law.
It wasn’t my choice to begin taking drugs, just as it was not the choice of many of my fellow addicted friends. I was fed narcotics at an early age by my caregivers, and that spiraled into a 15-year addiction that I couldn’t seem to claw my way out of, until shortly after my 24th birthday when Narcan brought me back to life after a near-fatal dose of heroin. I am one of the lucky ones.
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