It was hailed by progressives and drug reform advocates as a watershed moment: In November 2020, the voters of Oregon approved a ballot measure that made the state the first in the country to decriminalize the personal possession of all illicit drugs, including heroin, LSD and methamphetamine.

“Today, the first domino of our cruel and inhumane war on drugs has fallen,” Kassandra Frederique, executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, a national nonprofit that spearheaded the effort, declared the day the policy took effect. The new policy, she added, would set off “what we expect to be a cascade of other efforts centering health over criminalization.”

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But instead of setting off that wave of decriminalization, three years later – as Oregon confronts yet another spike in overdose deaths – the state is on the cusp of reversing its own lenient policy, after its legislature passed a bill early this month that once again criminalizes drug possession.

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The reversal comes as other high-profile liberal jurisdictions are also getting tougher on drugs and crime. Last week, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., passed a major public safety legislation package that increases punishments for various crimes and gives more leeway to judges and cops. And on Super Tuesday, San Francisco voters approved ballot measures that expand police powers and impose mandatory drug-screening and treatment requirements for welfare recipients.

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