(Washington Post) First-time offenders caught with small amounts of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamines and other illegal drugs will face less jail time and smaller fines under a new bill approved by the Oregon legislature that aims to curb mass incarceration.
The Oregon legislature passed a bill late last week that reclassifies possession of several drugs from a felony to a misdemeanor, reducing the punishments and expanding access to drug treatment for people without prior felonies or convictions for drug possession.
Oregon lawmakers hope to encourage drug users to seek help rather than filling up the state’s prisons as an epidemic of abuse spreads.
“We are trying to move policy toward treatment rather than prison beds,” said state Sen. Jackie Winters, R, co-chair of the public safety committee and a supporter of the bill.
“We can’t continue on the path of building more prisons when often the underlying root cause of the crime is substance use.”
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