Oregon pioneered a radical drug policy. Now it's reconsidering.

Officer Yoo gives a citation to a man he stopped for using fentanyl in public. Yoo said handing out citations doesn't appear to move people from using drugs on the streets into treatment programs. (Kristyna Wentz-Graff/OPB)

Oregon voters passed the most liberal drug law in the country in November 2020, decriminalizing possession for small amounts of hard drugs.

Under Ballot Measure 110, instead of arresting drug users, police now give them a citation and point them towards treatment. The law passed with 58% of the vote and also funneled hundreds of millions of dollars in cannabis tax revenue to fund new recovery programs.