Police enforce new Oregon law with several arrested, cited for drug possession

PORTLAND, Ore. ( KOIN ) – It’s official: Drug possession is once again illegal in Oregon.

The state’s new drug law to recriminalize the possession of small amounts of hard drugs went into effect on Sunday , effectively reversing the voter-approved Measure 110 that has been the subject of controversy for years.

The new law, House Bill 4002, gives people the choice between being charged and treatment when they are caught carrying drugs like fentanyl and meth. Treatment includes completing a behavioral health screening and participating in a “ deflection program ” in order to sidestep fines.

“They should have never decriminalized it in the first place because now they’ve got worse than a pandemic on their hands of addicts…that are stuck in a rut and believe it’s OK to do drugs,” Steven Coleman, a person experiencing homelessness, said. “How you gonna arrest somebody that you told it was OK to do drugs, and now suddenly, it’s not OK to do drugs?”

According to data from Gresham and Portland police, six people so far have been arrested for drug possession, one was cited, and two qualified for deflection and accepted services. However, that data excludes numbers from the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office and transit police, both of which said they would not have information until Tuesday.

Adults who are found with small amounts of controlled drugs are eligible for deflection only if they have no other charges, warrants, or holds, are medically stable and non-violent, and can agree to deflection instead of jail.

If a person meets these requirements, officers will call the county’s deflection dispatch line to provide basic information, determine eligibility and connect them to a mobile behavioral health outreach team that will have 30 minutes to make contact.

These mobile outreach teams will take on the deflection process while Multnomah County finalizes plans for its deflection center that was recently put on pause through mid- to late October. The push was the result of a lack of staffing , though county leaders said they also hope to bolster community support for the site at 900 SE Pine Street.

4-D Recovery is one of the few mobile outreach providers working with the county to offer deflection services on the ground. According to Executive Director Tony Vezina, the providers have so far engaged with four people since Sunday morning.

“One of them, we were able to get into detox right away yesterday. That was really awesome,” he said. “Two of them were unable to get in services right away, but we created a service plan for them.”

Those who are offered deflection will be required to answer all peer questions, sign a release, accept referrals to services, and engage with at least one service within 30 days. If they fail, they will not be eligible for deflection — and could be arrested if caught with drugs again within the same 30 day window.

However, law enforcement can only offer deflection from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday and Monday for the holiday weekend before officers shift to a schedule of 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday due to the county’s limited behavioral health availability.

Vezina told KOIN 6 news that 4-D’s biggest challenge so far has been the lack of immediate access to residential detox and recovery housing.

“That next call to get them into services they need is really critical, but if they’re not there, man, you know, how can we blame the person so much, right?” Vezina said. “That’s the biggest issue, we don’t have enough residential, detox, recovery, housing, sober living beds.”

In one case, a woman was unable to get connected to services, because they were all closed.

“She’s already participating in treatment, still using some other drugs, understands recovery, and wants to get back re-engaged fully,” Vezina said. “So we’re going to be working with her on a plan to do that.”

Additionally, the number of people who qualify for defection is very slim compared to the number of arrests. This is something Portland Police Bureau’s Chief Bob Day predicted during his press conference last Friday.

Stay with KOIN 6 News as this story develops.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.