On Monday, Gov. Tina Kotek (D-OR) rolled back a 2020 measure that decriminalized drugs after the state’s opioid overdose rate tripled since it was enacted. The measure offered those found in possession of hard drugs treatment over jail time. Before 2020, there were 280 opioid-related deaths in the state, and in 2022, there were 956, according to Oregon Health Authority statistics. 

Still, state lawmakers said the problems were not with legalizing the drugs, but rather the law’s implementation. Kotek’s move to recriminalize drugs follows a string of other blue states and cities across the country that are beginning to backpedal on Democratic crime and drug policies, opting for more aggressive solutions to combat a surging fentanyl crisis and an influx of violence plaguing inner cities.