Primus decries Measure 110 consequences
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, November 3rd, 2021 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – Umatilla District Attorney Dan Primus said the passage of Measure 110 is doing exactly what its opponents anticipated, taking a deep bite out of funding for substance abuse treatment centers statewide.
The measure that decriminalizes possession of small amounts of narcotics gives the person cited for the offense a phone number to call to seek help. This year there have only been 1,200 such citations issued (compared to almost 9,000 in 2020) and they aren’t calling.
“Fifty people in the state of Oregon have made the call for the peer mentorship program, which is alarming to hear how low and how few,” he said.
Opponents of Measure 110 had predicted one of the unanticipated outcomes of its passage would be closure of substance abuse disorder treatment centers because courts were no longer sending them people who needed help. Primus said a report in Willamette Week makes that clear.
“Multiple treatment centers in the Willamette Valley are shutting their doors because they don’t have people coming in the doors,” he said.
If Measure 110 stands as now, Primus said the worst is yet to come.
“Right now, Oregon is seeing the highest overdose rates the state has ever seen and I think it’s just the beginning of what we’re going to see,” he said.
