In the aftermath of the November election, public attention focused on the sudden termination of Donald Trump's presidency. Largely overlooked was a development that could begin to shut down another destructive phenomenon. The people of Oregon voted to remove criminal penalties for possession of any illicit drugs.
Heroin? Meth? Cocaine? They will remain illegal in the state, but in the same sense that parking by a fire hydrant is illegal. Police may issue citations, but no one will be arrested for carrying a small amount of drugs for personal use. (Selling them will remain a criminal offense.)
The change is happening in only one state, and it's an incremental reform from Oregon's past policy, which was to classify all such offenses as misdemeanors. But a crack in a windshield can eventually shatter the whole thing, and Measure 110 puts a noticeable fissure in the edifice of the drug war.
Oregon may have earned its reputation as a coastal outpost of woke eccentricity, but in drug policy, it's often led the way. It was the first state to decriminalize the possession of cannabis and one of the first to authorize medical marijuana. Most states have since done the same.
Its voters were early in legalizing recreational pot, in 2014. Fourteen other states and the District of Columbia are now on board. Oregon was one of the first to "de-felonize" possession of all drugs, reducing these offenses to misdemeanors. It's now the law in 20 other states.
In each instance, Oregon helped demonstrate that easing restrictions didn't produce a hapless society of dazed stoners. By decriminalizing hard-drug use, it can do even more to show the wisdom of greater tolerance.
The measure makes another major change: using the savings from not arresting and incarcerating offenders to help those who want help. It directs a share of revenue from taxes on marijuana to this wholesome purpose.
The money would pay for expanded treatment, housing and "harm reduction" efforts such as syringe exchanges. Instead of targeting drug use and addiction as crimes, Oregon will treat them as health and social problems that warrant cures rather than punishment.