At the time of its passage, the Oregon Catholic Conference (OCC) voiced strong opposition to Measure 110. The bishops said the OCC “firmly supports treatment and rehabilitation for all those suffering from addictions,” but they encouraged voters “to get behind solid programs and not accept an initiative that promotes the use of illegal drugs.”
“We can clearly say that in the last three years, we have seen a significant increase in drug use when our outreach workers go out onto the streets,” Langlois said. “Put briefly, there is more drug use now than we ever remember.”
“We also see an increase in use among some of the low-income people linked to our programs, including housing,” he added.
Like Wheeler, Langlois argued that Measure 110 wasn’t solely responsible for the huge spike in drug usage.
“The decriminalization measure arrived at about the same time as an influx of fentanyl in our region, so it’s hard to lay the blame totally on the law,” he said.
“Sadly, increased drug use brings increased violence,” he said. “We now send larger groups of outreach workers out and have a strict protocol to make sure they don’t get tangled up in anything untoward.”
“Their bravery is pretty inspiring,” he added.
Langlois said the promise of Measure 110 ultimately failed to materialize.
“The notion of decriminalization was to save funds to increase substance abuse treatment,” he said. “That does not appear to have panned out completely.”
The primary driver of the drug crisis, Langlois argued, is that there are simply too few resources for those who seek to beat their drug addictions.
“The main message we at Catholic Charities want to offer is that it’s way too difficult for homeless or low-income people to enter proper substance abuse treatment,” he said.
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“More so than the decriminalization measure, a lack of treatment fuels the drug use crisis we see playing out before our eyes.”
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