A key part of the change is a new state law that encourages police to connect drug users to treatment without charging them with crimes. The process is known as deflection, which allows the state to maintain some aspects of the public health priority Ballot Measure 110 placed on addiction, even as many Oregonians pushed for greater accountability and criminal penalties. It was also crucial in getting lawmakers on board with recriminalization.
Interviews, testimony at public meetings and county grant applications obtained by OPB through public records requests show how people caught with small amounts of drugs are treated will vary wildly depending on where they are.
For all their attention, what鈥檚 become clear: most deflection programs will likely be narrow in scope and small in size, at least initially.
OPB also found:
- Twenty-eight of Oregon鈥檚 36 counties have applied for the $20 million in grant funds the Legislature set aside to pay for deflection programs.
- Of those, 14 counties will be ready to go on Sept. 1, when drug possession is once again criminalized, according to their applications. Others say it could be months before their deflection programs are up and running.
- Eligibility for deflection programs varies widely, and some counties are limiting the number of times people can access their programs.
- Eighteen counties will only allow people charged with misdemeanor drug possession to enter deflection, and won鈥檛 consider other low-level, public disorder crimes that can be associated with addiction.
- County applications illustrate broad differences in when and how police, prosecutors and health providers will engage with people using drugs. For example, in Multnomah County, people will be arrested and transported to a deflection center, once it opens. Meanwhile, to access deflection.
- Even though the programs are shaping up to be small right now, they could still overwhelm the state鈥檚 treatment options.
Possession charges only
When deflection programs first launch in counties that are building them out, more than half plan to strictly limit eligibility to those people who get charged with possessing small amounts of drugs, like fentanyl, for personal use, which would be a misdemeanor. Those decisions are likely to result in programs that are small.
Backers say that鈥檚 largely by design.
鈥淧olice are going to do things that work and they鈥檙e going to stop doing things really rapidly if they don鈥檛 work,鈥� said state Sen. Kate Lieber, D-Portland, who co-sponsored House Bill 4002. That鈥檚 the legislation lawmakers overwhelmingly passed this year to roll back Ballot Measure 110 after many voters soured on drug decriminalization.
鈥淚f the county only believes that they can do this little tiny narrow thing to begin with, that鈥檚 what they should do, what they should make successful.鈥�
If it works, Lieber said, counties 鈥渁re going to expand it.鈥�
Nine counties 鈥� all outside the Portland metro area 鈥� plan to consider deflection eligibility more broadly when their programs launch. Those counties will consider people charged not only with misdemeanor drug possession, but also other low-level offenses typically associated with drug use, such as trespassing.
For those counties pursuing a possession-only deflection program, it鈥檚 unclear at this point how many people in the state would be eligible overall.
Under the current system, , which drug users are supposed to resolve by calling a hotline. From when Measure 110 went into effect on Feb. 1, 2021, to July 31, 2024, , according to the Oregon Judicial Department. More than 1,200 people have multiple citations.
According to the Judicial Department, 9% of cases with a Measure 110 citation also have other violations associated with that case, like driving with a suspended license. Just 1% have a felony or misdemeanor charge, typically driving under the influence or dealing a controlled substance.
But using Measure 110 citations to estimate the number of people who might be eligible for deflection is also problematic. They鈥檙e likely an undercount of potential deflection participants because for . With several counties issuing only a few hundred citations over the three-and-a-half years.
Different approaches, county by county
Drug users eligible for deflection in one county may be ineligible in another and even face a higher likelihood of jail time.
There are also different standards from county to county for what success looks like, who will run deflection programs, and how people access the program in the first place.
For example, Lane County officials plan to have law enforcement determine if an individual is eligible for deflection and make contact with a peer navigator to facilitate their transfer into treatment, according to the county鈥檚 application to the state. Lane County won鈥檛 be up and running until October and still needs time to staff up.
鈥淎s we envision this at this point, our peer navigators will meet law enforcement and the offender on the scene, make that initial contact with them,鈥� said District Attorney Chris Parosa.
He said after making that initial connection, peer navigators will set up another appointment to start to match a person鈥檚 needs to the treatment and other available resources. He said that could change as the county gets additional resources for drug treatment.
鈥滿aybe when the stabilization center comes online later on down the road, we will actually have a place that we can immediately and affirmatively take them 鈥榥ight one鈥� to begin the process right from the scene,鈥� Parosa said. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 have that now.鈥�
Meanwhile, in Multnomah County, the only way to get into deflection for now is through an interaction with law enforcement. The plan is for police to arrest drug users for misdemeanor possession and take them to the county鈥檚 in inner Southeast Portland.
鈥淭hey鈥檒l be under arrest, so we can take them to the deflection center, we can take them to jail, wherever we need to transport them to,鈥� Portland Police Chief Bob Day said during a news conference in late July. 鈥淭he officers are still going to be writing reports. They鈥檙e still going to be collecting evidence. We鈥檙e going to be doing all of this as if it was somebody that was going to jail. So there will be documentation of all that.鈥�
However, until mid to late October while the nonprofit the county is contracting with to run the site hires and trains staff. Until then, Multnomah County will offer mobile outreach, using peer support and behavioral health staff in partnership with law enforcement to respond in the field.
Counties are also taking different approaches when it comes to who is in charge of deflection. Like all other elements of their programs, counties were largely left to figure that out on their own.
Each county has a deflection coordinator. Where that position is housed varies widely. In Jackson County, the program coordinator works in the county鈥檚 mental health department. In Hood River, the coordinator works in the county sheriff鈥檚 office.
Initially, Washington County District Attorney Kevin Barton was unsure whether they placed their coordinator in the best spot.
鈥淲e intentionally put our program coordinator in our health and human services department, not in the DA鈥檚 office, not in the sheriff鈥檚 office and not in community corrections,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檒l just out myself. I, early on, wasn鈥檛 sure if that was the right place to put it.鈥�
Barton said he鈥檚 fully behind the county鈥檚 approach now, but figuring out which county agency would lead the day-to-day operations was one of the many discussion points that took time to sort out. He said the goal is for the deflection team to have some flexibility and assess people in the program on an individual basis.
鈥淩elapse is part of recovery. The goal is to keep people engaged, to get them into treatment and to divert them away from the justice system鈥�鈥斅燱ashington County District Attorney Kevin Barton
Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, a former prosecutor and co-sponsor of House Bill 4002, said lawmakers expected a 鈥減eriod of innovation and experimentation鈥� with Oregon鈥檚 county-by-county approach towards deflection.
鈥淲e knew these programs would look different, and I think we actually encouraged it,鈥� Kropf said . 鈥淲e wanted people struggling with addiction to be able to make a quicker connection to those services and have the opportunity to avoid formal prosecution if they were caught in the possession of drugs.鈥�
Oregonians passed Ballot Measure 110 in November 2020, with 58% in support. Along with decriminalizing drugs, the measure promised to expand treatment and deal with substance use disorders in healthcare settings, largely cutting out the criminal justice system. In the last few years, overdose deaths have surged in Oregon, following a nationwide trend driven by the synthetic opioid fentanyl.
Backers of Measure 110 made the case that the criminal justice system had not only failed to address addiction but had made it worse 鈥� particularly for communities of color through the war on drugs. By design, it left law enforcement with a muted role in addressing people with substance use disorders.
But as the debate about recriminalizing drug possession reignited last year, law enforcement, prosecutors and their allies made the case that sidelining them has only made the drug crisis worse. Police and district attorneys played a significant role in making drug possession a crime once more.
Now, in some counties, they鈥檙e running the show.
鈥淭here鈥檚 tremendous pressure on DAs,鈥� said Clackamas County District Attorney John Wentworth, who is also president of the Oregon District Attorneys Association.
鈥淟ook, we just want people to not use drugs. That鈥檚 the goal. We鈥檙e just trying to make society better by having fewer people who are addicted, fewer people who are dying from overdoses.鈥�鈥斅燙lackamas County District Attorney John Wentworth
No matter how the programs are set up, county leaders across the state say they feel pressure to make their deflection programs work.
鈥淕ood,鈥� Lieber, who is also a former prosecutor, responded. 鈥淲e need the entire system acting urgently. It鈥檚 that urgent.鈥�
She said it鈥檚 going to take time for counties to get deflection programs up and running, and even longer to refine and expand them.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no magic about Sept. 1,鈥� Lieber said. 鈥淏ut we are chasing the tsunami of fentanyl.鈥�
More accountability, but will there be treatment?
At least for now, most county deflection programs are narrowly focused. But even though treatment capacity has expanded since Ballot Measure 110 passed, pushing even small numbers of people into recovery programs could leave some waiting or overwhelm the broader addiction treatment system.
Washington County, the state鈥檚 second most populous, estimates it will have capacity for 600 people per year in the initial deflection program, county officials told OPB. But the types of treatment available may not fit every participant鈥檚 needs.
Nick Oc贸n, division manager with Washington County Behavioral Health, said there is treatment capacity Monday through Friday, during normal business hours. But outside of that, the options are limited.
鈥淐urrently, in Washington County, there are no sobering resources,鈥� Oc贸n said. 鈥淭here is very limited residential treatments. There鈥檚 no publicly-funded withdrawal management.鈥�
Those are things the county will have starting next year with a new sobering and treatment center.
鈥淓ven with this incredible development to our system of care, we know it鈥檚 not going to fulfill the entire capacity,鈥� Oc贸n said. 鈥淪ome of that higher level of care is just not available.鈥�
Washington County鈥檚 limitations reflect a broader problem. A found that the state needs to add 3,000 behavioral health beds 鈥� along with staff 鈥� to meet its needs, a process that will likely take multiple years and hundreds of millions of dollars to complete. A projects a substantial shortage in mental health and addiction workers nationwide over the next decade.
Nearby, Multnomah County estimates year could enter its deflection program. Though the county acknowledges the program鈥檚 specifics could be in flux as .
鈥淕iven inevitable elected leadership transitions, the County鈥檚 approach to coordination is building consensus for implementation September 1 as well as how to iterate and improve the program moving forward,鈥� Multnomah County officials wrote in a grant application mid-July.
While much of the focus ahead of Sept. 1 has been on deflection, county officials note it鈥檚 just one tool available to get people treatment.
鈥淲e all recognize that addiction and recovery is not a one transaction exchange,鈥� outgoing Multnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt said during a news conference in late July. 鈥淚t will require multiple attempts at treatment.鈥�
If deflection fails, Schmidt explained, House Bill 4002 lays out even more options. Drug users can go through a different process called conditional discharge, in which a person鈥檚 criminal charges get dismissed if they complete treatment. After that, prosecutors can pursue probation or even jail time as a last resort.
鈥淭he bottom line is law enforcement needs tools to stop behavior that harms the community, and the goal needs to be to connect people with treatment and not incarceration鈥�鈥斅燤ultnomah County District Attorney Mike Schmidt
Ultimately, the goal is to get more people into treatment and reduce overdose deaths in the state. Everyone seems to agree that finding those solutions will require some trial and error, with Oregon鈥檚 approach to deflection likely to change as time goes on.
鈥淲e鈥檝e been building the plane while it鈥檚 flying,鈥� Ken Sanchagrin, executive director of the Criminal Justice Commission, said during a meeting this month. 鈥淎nd every county has their own rickety biplane that they鈥檝e been building while it鈥檚 flying too. Most of them are not finished yet, so I don鈥檛 even know how we鈥檙e flying, but we鈥檙e trying.鈥�
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