GOP lawmakers blast new Dem M#110 plan

Democrats Unveil ‘Measure 110 Lite’
Proposal doesn’t solve Oregon’s drug addiction crisis
By Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp
Representative Christine Goodwin
Representative Kevin Mannix,

SALEM, Ore. – In today’s Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response, Democrats unveiled their not-so-grand plan to address Measure 110. Republicans have also introduced several key pieces of legislation which can be found on OLIS.

“Above all, I am saddened by the Democrats’ lack of interest to do what is necessary to end the drug addiction crisis, which is killing people young and old every single day. They are instead choosing to listen to special interest activists and pursue an omnibus bill reduced to window dressing,” said Senate Republican Leader Tim Knopp (R-Bend). “While Democrats kick the can down the road, we will continue to put forward bold solutions that will stop the drug crisis in its tracks.”

“The proposal we saw today is one chalked full of farcical fixes which will work about as well as the drug treatment hotline. Measure 110 has proven that voluntary addiction treatment does not work and keeps people chronically addicted. Oregonians overwhelmingly agree that we must scrap this naïve approach, but the Democrats’ proposal keeps the status quo in place,” said Representative Christine Goodwin (R-Canyonville). “Oregonians deserve better than this weak proposal. It will do almost nothing to save lives, clean up our streets, and restore safety to our communities.”

“Oregonians have made it abundantly clear: we must reestablish hard drug use as a class A misdemeanor so that rehabilitation treatment can be required. The current system does not include such power and a low-level class C misdemeanor only provides 30 days in jail as an alternative. This is nowhere near the amount of time needed to address addiction,” said Representative Kevin Mannix (R-Keizer). “Our current system is not compassionate. People are hurting. The Legislature has a responsibility to step up and meet this challenge.”