One year ago, Oregon’s law recriminalizing drug possession went into effect. In the months since, counties across the state started to stand up drug deflection programs aimed at driving more people towards treatment resources or risk criminal penalties.
The situation in Oregon has shifted within the past year: overdose deaths appear to be decreasing, arrests for drug possession have spiked, and there’s been a documented effort to get people into treatment.
Still, state officials say it’s too early to make sweeping statements or draw definitive conclusions about whether the state’s county-by-county approach, or its nascent programs, are helping connect drug users with treatment in ways that have met Oregonians’ expectations.
In November 2020, voters overwhelmingly passed Ballot Measure 110, which dedicated funds for drug treatment while also decriminalizing small amounts of hard drugs, such as fentanyl and methamphetamine. Proponents saw Measure 110 as a historic opportunity to decouple drug addiction from the criminal justice system, and instead address substance use disorders in health care settings.
The law came online with too little support and infrastructure to address such a historic change. It also came during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when health care resources were strained and the key state agency tasked with implementing the law, the Oregon Health Authority, was using the bulk of its policy muscle to coordinate response efforts. Research has also shown the spike in overdose deaths, which began at roughly the same time voters decriminalized drug possession, coincided with a wave of fentanyl showing up in unprecedented levels across the West Coast and in Oregon’s drug supply.
In 2023, a coalition of powerful business and political leaders announced an effort to “fix” the law by prohibiting drug use in public spaces and making possession illegal again. Facing shifting public sentiment and the threat of another ballot measure that would repeal Measure 110, Oregon lawmakers recriminalized drug possession, creating a new misdemeanor charge for it.
In an effort to preserve the treatment-first approach ushered in by Measure 110, lawmakers set aside $20 million to give counties the option to set up programs to deflect people towards treatment programs instead of solely facing criminal penalties.
According to data from the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission, from September 1, 2024, when the new law went into effect, to August 20, 2025, law enforcement made 9,893 arrests, though the majority of them included other crimes, such as trespassing, drug delivery or theft.
Of those, there were 2,595 arrests where the only charge was drug possession.
Between September 1, 2024, and August 4, 2025, 1,727 people qualified for deflection. Of those, 1,308 entered a program. Roughly 48% didn’t complete deflection. The remainder either completed the program or were currently enrolled, state data shows.
Two other data points that are worth noting: Oregon’s drug supply and overdose deaths.
From 2020 to late 2023, the number of people who died from an overdose in Oregon more than doubled, Oregon Health Authority data show, many as a result of fentanyl use. Preliminary data shows overdoses started to drop last year, mirroring a national trend.
“It is too early to determine the reasons for this shift, but some possibilities include increased naloxone availability in the community, a strengthened substance use disorder treatment system, and a shift in the local illicit drug market,” the health authority noted in a report.
One measure of the illicit drug market comes from law enforcement seizure data.
Last year, the number of fentanyl pills seized dropped for the first time since 2020, according to the Oregon-Idaho High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, which is one of more than 30 around the country funded by the White House Office of National Drug Policy.
Law enforcement agencies reported seizing roughly the same amount of fentanyl powder last year, compared to 2023 seizure data.
Methamphetamine seizures increased 72% last year.
OPB’s Michelle Wiley contributed to this report.
