In Portland, it's Measure 110 Lite

It's been four and a half months since the legislature and the governor repealed the worst parts of Measure 110, the hideously misguided experiment of decriminalizing possession of hard street drugs in Oregon. The new law takes effect two weeks from yesterday.

Under the new system, drugs are illegal again, but counties can, if they want, set up "deflection" systems whereby a user can choose treatment over criminal penalties. Unfortunately, the two people with a stranglehold on the criminal justice system here in Multnomah County, the county commission chair and the district attorney, hate to see good old Measure 110 go. And so they are doing what they can to make the "deflection" system here as toothless and ineffective as the failed decriminalization that went before.

Back in the days of Measure 110, the cops were supposed to hand out little cards to the meth and fentanyl users, with a phone number on the back that they could call to get treatment. If they didn't call, there were no real consequences. Part of the joke was that they got a $100 ticket they were supposed to show up at City Hall and pay.

Surprise! No one ever paid, and worse, hardly anyone ever called. And those that did call were informed that treatment wasn't available to them right now. After a very short time, the police in Portland, and in many other towns, figured out what a waste of time it was, and they stopped dealing with drug users entirely, unless some other serious crime was involved.

On paper, that's about to change. In the Multnomah County version of the new world, there will be a "deflection center" at Ninth and Sandy where the cops will drop off the drug users. There they will be greeted by employees of an out-of-state drug counseling outfit, who will tell them where they should go for treatment. The facility, which is being called the "the Coordinated Care Pathway Center," will apparently have showers and other amenities for the addicts, and the counselors will be "peers" with "lived experience."

Sound familiar? It sounds a lot like the trouble-plagued fentanyl day spa that the county set up downtown a while back. And at the new place, after having their interview with their "peers," the drug user will be turned loose with no consequences for at least 30 days. (The county is still debating whether to give them a free ride back to their tent or to make them walk back.) Apparently, if they don't check in for treatment within the one-month time frame, the police can arrest them and actually file criminal charges for possession, but will the cops even bother?

Because if they do, who will prosecute? Certainly not the current D.A., Mikey Schmidt. And even if he will bring charges, will the county jail take the prisoners? The county sheriff, Nicole Morrisey O'Donnell, has recently reminded us that she, not the city police chief, makes policy when it comes to who is and who isn't to be held in the jail. From her high horse, she refuses to "criminalize homelessness"; will she be willing to "criminalize addiction"?

Maybe things will actually change when the new D.A., Nathan Vasquez, takes office in January, but until then, "deflection" in Portland seems like it will be a warmed-over version of the disastrous Measure 110. Around here, say it with me, nothing succeeds like failure.

With all the foregoing in mind, I'm not all that worked up about today's news that the "deflection" joint won't be open for another eight to 10 weeks. Even if it opened tomorrow, it would be just more of the same old shinola. There won't be a serious sobering unit there for months, even years. There will only be some nonprofit outfit from Baltimore collecting a nice fee while it hands out cards to the addicts with phone numbers they're supposed to call sometime, in the next 30 days, mañana. We've all seen that movie.

Until the "Pathway Center" gets its act together, there will apparently be a mobile "deflection" unit following the cops around and handing out the cards with the phone numbers. You wonder why they even bother, but I guess unless they go through those motions, the cops can actually arrest the druggies. And we can't have that.