More than 16,000 Oregonians accessed services through the new grant program set up under Oregon’s landmark drug-decriminalization law in its first year, but less than 1% of those helped with Measure 110 dollars were reported to have entered treatment, new state data shows. Most of those who accessed the grant-funded services last year, nearly 60%, engaged with harm reduction programs such as syringe exchanges and naloxone distribution.
What it shows is that while Measure 110 was pitched to voters as a way to expand access to addiction treatment and recovery, the early spending has only led to about 136 people entering treatment — and that’s out of hundreds of thousands in Oregon who need but are not receiving treatment for substance use.
The voters were sold on Measure 110 in large part because it would increase access to addiction treatment but the program is funded by marijuana tax funds and marijuana is illegal at the federal level, Measure 110 cannot be used to augment addiction treatment for the poor since that is funded by Medicaid and state matching funds.
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