According to a study by the American Medical Association, the removal of criminal penalties for simple possession of drugs does not appear to have a significant impact on fatal drug overdoses. The study examined the effects decriminalization policy in Oregon and Washington State.
Our analysis shows that decriminalization laws do not increase overdose deaths, said Corey Davis. Davis is an adjunct professor at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine in the Department of Population Health. He was also a senior researcher for the report.
The findings were published in JAMA Psychiatry on Wednesday. They follow a recent study that Davis co-authored that showed that decriminalization led to a reduction in arrests due to drug possession, but not an increase in arrests related violent crimes.
Davis stated that the two studies showed that decriminalization policies in Oregon and Washington did not result in an increase of overdose deaths, but rather reduced arrests. These findings, taken together, indicate that drug users and their communities may be less at risk.
The rate of fatal drug overdoses one year after implementation is not related to the legal changes that reduce or remove criminal penalties for drug use.
Researchers examined a year’s worth of post-decriminalization data on overdose deaths from the two states, comparing them to control groups consisting of states with similar overdose rates. After the investigators did not find any statistical significance between the overdose death rate in Oregon and Washington compared to the control group, according to a release from NYU Medical School, “the investigators performed a sensitivity study incorporating seven additional months of provisional information.” The findings did remain the same.
The fatal overdose rate in Oregon and Washington was roughly the same as it would have been in the absence of policy changes.
The authors of the report acknowledge the need for more research on the medium- and long term effects of decriminalization, as well as the impact of reduced penalties on different racial or ethnic groups.
This study provides a first-hand look at how drug decriminalization affects overdose. However, further monitoring is necessary, said Spruha Joshuai, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, and co-lead researcher of the study.
Joshi pointed out that, in Oregon for example, decriminalization laws also dramatically increased funding for recovery and treatment services–money which didn’t get distributed until after the researchers study was completed.
The rate of fatal drug overdoses did not change when laws decriminalizing possession of drugs in Oregon and Washington were passed.
Measure 110 in Oregon, along with reducing penalties for drug use and possession, directed hundreds of millions dollars from cannabis revenues to increase access to programs aimed at reducing the risk of overdose. Joshi stated that these funds weren’t distributed until well after the study period. It will be crucial to continue monitoring overdose rates, as more data becomes available, to assess the effect of this distribution.
The report states that Oregon’s distribution of $287.3 millions for behavioral health services was “slow and most were distributed between April and September 2022, after the study period.”
Researchers wrote that “Funded programs have the potential to reduce risky drug-related behavior and support pathways towards addiction recovery which can reduce fatal and nonfatal drug overdose.”
This study is further proof that a local issue cannot be blamed on a policy at the local level.
Oregon has seen a rise in overdoses, but not as much as states that punish drug users.
Oregon spent millions on addiction services and social support while other states locked people up.
— Drug Policy Alliance September 27, 2020
The two states’ decriminalization laws are markedly different.
Measure 110, passed by Oregon voters in 2020, will eliminate criminal penalties for drug possession as well as expand access to drug rehabilitation and recovery services.
The state’s felony possession law was overturned by the state Supreme Court in an unexpected decision. legislators criminalized possession again less than three months after that.
Washington amended its laws in May this year to increase the criminal penalties and fund treatment programs. Seattle City Council approved a local measure last week authorizing prosecution for simple drug possession and public consumption.
Authors of the new study contend that despite the less-than-three-month period of formal decriminalization, Washington’s new drug possession law is “markedly different” than the previous statute because it “reclassifies most drug possession crimes from felonies to misdemeanors and substantially reduces the types of objects that qualify as drug paraphernalia.” It also encourages law enforcement to divert cases for assessment, treatment or other services besides criminal prosecution.
Washington and Oregon had respectively the 33rd and the 34th highest overdose fatality rates in the United States, according to the latest available data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Despite the overdose crisis in Oregon and the visible homelessness, support for decriminalization is waning. While 58 percent voted in favor of Measure 110 during the election, a recent poll released by opponents revealed that 61 percent now believe it was a failure.
A coalition of conservative and liberal business and political leaders released a ballot measure earlier this month that would undo the core parts of Measure 110, by recriminalizing the possession of certain drugs as well as creating a new crime for public consumption.
The Oregon Health Authority’s (OHA) oversight council received more staffing and administrative assistance from the legislature in June .
An audit conducted by the Secretary of State in January of the decriminalization measures found that OHA needs to improve its coordination and provide better support. The report concluded that it was still too early to determine whether Measure 110 programs would be able to curb the state’s drugs problems.
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