In 2020, liberals sold state voters on Measure 110 on the idea that it would improve the drug situation. As AFN recently reported, it decriminalized most unlawful possessions of controlled substances.
"After a couple of years of this, we've seen that 64% of Oregon voters want to recriminalize drugs in our state, and 56% want to repeal Measure 110 altogether," reports Dr. Angela Plowhead, spokesperson for the state Republican Party.
Though Measure 110 remains popular among liberals, she says it has led to some damaging consequences in the state.
"It's unprecedented levels of homelessness," Plowhead notes. "We're seeing our young and our old dying at just phenomenal rates, and we're seeing just huge amounts of crime -- and our police force had their hands tied."
She says House Bill 4002, the measure the Democrats have submitted, is window dressing, but Republicans are trying to make a difference.
"We have three Republican bills right now that have been put into place that actually totally repeal 110 and address the treatment issues and give police and law enforcement agencies back the teeth that they need for actual enforcement," the party spokesperson details.
Since Republicans are the minority party, Plowhead says it will take an uprising of voters, conservative or liberal, to boost the bills out of both chambers and on to the governor's office.
