Drug decriminalization as a mitigator of houselessness

DECRIMINALIZATION ≠ LEGALIZATION

Houselessness is heavily perpetuated by the stigma and criminalization surrounding the hard drugs that run rampant among houseless and impoverished communities. Oregon’s Measure 110, passed in November 2020, has been a major step in the right direction towards breaking the common cycle:

houselessness ➡ addiction from attempts to cope ➡ imprisonment ➡ return to streets ➡ return to addictive substances as coping mechanism.

Opposing populations fear the measure will make drug use rampant, when its passing actually achieves the opposite. The selling and distribution of these substances is not suddenly made legal; the policy change simply makes it so that anyone found already in possession of hard drugs has the consequence reduced to a minor fine ($100 max.) and a health assessment that may place one in a rehabilitation center/program instead of giving them an instant arrest and criminal charge. Some very minor selling offenses, such as a person newly convinced to start selling and not selling in large quantities, will also fall under the new regulations.

Homeless are one of the most at risk populations for substance abuse, and more highly illicit substances (methamphetamine, heroin, etc) are able to run rampant in communities existing on the outskirts of our capitalist society where legal regulation is scarce. Furthermore, the cyclic nature of addiction among homeless populations makes the criminalization of these drugs a real problem; Measure 110 is a huge step in the right direction. All that is required is an individual trying an illicit substance once to become fully reliant upon it. When certain substances we deem as socially acceptable aren’t available to houseless people, whether due to financial reasons or proximity, it is no surprise that these people turn to what is readily available.

We place so much judgment on these actions and the populations that regularly engage in them, despite the fact that we engage in the exact same practices in forms that we’ve deemed acceptable as a society, such as relaxing with alcohol or legal cannabis. Why are we surprised and offended when homeless populations turn to available substances in the face of feeling complete hopelessness, complete lack of security and healthy community? Why do we attack this self-preserving cycle instead of thinking of the situation with compassion and understanding in order to find true, helpful solutions for people in need?

This measure provides a true avenue towards solving that exact hopelessness, which is so heavily amplified and made cyclical by the criminalization of drugs creating the pointless cycle of locking away the homeless for minor possession charges, then releasing them back into the street without any resources just to start the whole traumatizing process once again. Getting these individuals accustomed to offers of healing instead of the promise of automatic prison sentences will lead to a much higher possibility of gradually moving much of the houseless population back into some form of functioning society. In this way, these individuals will be more ready and willing to participate in further programs for their betterment, such as RentWell's education program that could lead them to attaining proper housing. I hope to see measures like Oregon's Measure 110 passed in many more states.