Oregonian here. Living through Oregon’s experiment with decriminalization was tough. The law was flawed and ultimately failed, but did succeed in demonstrating

Oregonian here. Living through Oregon’s experiment with decriminalization was tough. The law was flawed and ultimately failed, but did succeed in demonstrating why legalization, along with regulation, and taxation are the only real winning way to solve these problems. Look at our Cannabis programs. Massively successful and pumping millions into our public programs. Sure, Decriminalization reduces arrests but it leaves dangerous, unregulated substances in the market. Where legalizing and regulating recreational drugs ensures safer, controlled products, reducing health risks. Without the tax revenue from a legal market, there’s no funding for vital public health initiatives, like addiction treatment, or education programs. Oregon’s approach missed this by a long shot, leading to huge gaps in our support systems and funding. Also, regulation promotes real social justice by allowing those who get hit hardest by the total failure that is the "war on drugs” to benefit from better legal opportunities. This backstep is horrible for sure, but decriminalization wasn’t enough and without a plan to move further forward it's the only last-ditch effort to fix the problems the weak policy has caused. The better way forward would be restructuring the decriminalization to include some form of legalization along with regulation and most importantly taxation, but I won't hold my breath waiting for common sense to have a place in US state or federal politics.