Oregon is the state that decriminalized all drugs. Voters passed Measure 110, the Drug Addiction Treatment and Recovery Act, in November 2020, and the law took effect on February 1, 2021, replacing criminal penalties for personal-quantity possession of heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and other controlled substances with a $100 civil citation. The experiment lasted about three and a half years. In September 2024, Oregon reversed course through House Bill 4002 and made drug possession a misdemeanor again.1Oregon State Legislature. HB 4002 2024 Regular Session
What Measure 110 Actually Did
Measure 110 reclassified personal-quantity possession of controlled substances from a criminal offense to a Class E violation under Oregon Revised Statutes 475.237.2Oregon State Legislature. Measure 110 (2020) Brief Decriminalization is not legalization. Heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, LSD, psilocybin, and every other scheduled substance remained prohibited under state and federal law. What changed was the consequence. Instead of arrest, booking, and a criminal record, a person caught with a small amount received something closer to a traffic ticket.
The reclassification covered opioids, stimulants, and hallucinogens across the state’s controlled substance schedules. During the roughly three and a half years the law was active, Oregon police stopped arresting people solely for personal-quantity possession. The stated goal was to remove the lifelong collateral consequences of a criminal record for people whose underlying problem was addiction and to route them toward treatment instead.3Oregon Health Authority. Behavioral Health Resource Network (BHRN) Program
The Personal-Use Thresholds
Measure 110 drew specific weight limits separating personal use from distribution. Anything at or above these amounts remained a criminal offense. The decriminalized limits were:2Oregon State Legislature. Measure 110 (2020) Brief
- Heroin: less than one gram
- Cocaine: less than two grams
- Methamphetamine: less than two grams
- MDMA: less than one gram or fewer than five pills
- LSD: fewer than 40 user units
- Psilocybin: fewer than 12 grams
Officers used these thresholds to decide whether to write a citation or pursue a criminal charge. Anyone carrying more still faced arrest and prosecution under existing drug statutes, including felony charges when the quantity suggested distribution.
How the Citation System Worked
A person found with drugs below the thresholds received a Class E violation citation carrying a maximum fine of $100.4Oregon Revised Statutes. Oregon Revised Statutes 153.018 – Maximum Fines The citation included a number for a 24-hour addiction recovery hotline staffed by treatment professionals. Calling the hotline and completing a health assessment waived the fine.5Oregon Health Authority. Measure 110 Provider Fact Sheet The screening evaluated the caller’s substance use and offered referrals to case management, treatment, and intervention planning.
Almost nobody followed through. A state audit found that only about 6% of contacts to the hotline provider in 2023 were tied to Measure 110 screening rather than general information requests.6Oregon Secretary of State. Measure 110 Lacks Stability, Coordination, and Clear Results The Oregon Health Authority acknowledged it had not collected enough data to show how many people the program actually served. That gap between design and uptake became a central argument for repeal.
Why Oregon Reversed the Law
Voters approved Measure 110 with 59% support in 2020. By 2024, lawmakers from both parties backed recriminalization. The forces behind the reversal were Oregon’s worsening fentanyl crisis, public frustration with open drug use in cities like Portland, and mounting evidence that citations and a hotline were not connecting people to treatment. Business groups and local officials pushed for tougher penalties.
Opponents of recriminalization warned that restoring criminal penalties would fall disproportionately on people of color and would discourage people who wanted help from asking for it. Supporters of HB 4002 called it a middle path that kept treatment funding in place while giving law enforcement leverage it had lost. The bill passed with broad bipartisan support in early 2024.
What Oregon Drug Possession Law Looks Like Now
House Bill 4002 took effect on September 1, 2024, and made personal-quantity drug possession a “drug enforcement misdemeanor” under Oregon law.1Oregon State Legislature. HB 4002 2024 Regular Session The penalty structure is not a straightforward jail sentence. The court follows a specific sequence:7Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Laws 2024 Chapter 70 – HB 4002
- Probation is the default. The court suspends any jail sentence and imposes supervised probation for up to 18 months, and cannot order jail as a condition of probation.
- Jail is available only if the defendant requests it. A judge can impose up to 180 days, which typically happens when someone prefers a short jail stay over a longer probation term.
- Probation violations can draw sanctions of up to 30 days in jail total, with any jail time requiring authorization for early release to treatment.
- Full probation revocation carries a maximum of 180 days in jail, again with authorization for early release to a treatment program.
The court cannot impose fines, costs, assessments, or attorney fees as part of a drug enforcement misdemeanor conviction.7Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Laws 2024 Chapter 70 – HB 4002 That is unusual for a criminal offense and reflects the legislature’s view that financial penalties tend to hurt people in addiction more than they help.
Fentanyl carries enhanced penalties under a 2025 amendment. Possessing one gram or more, or five or more user units of a fentanyl mixture, elevates the charge to a Class A misdemeanor. Larger quantities or commercial-level possession can be charged as a Class C felony.8Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Laws 2025 Chapter 532
Deflection Programs Can Keep a Case Out of Court
HB 4002 also created the Oregon Behavioral Health Deflection Program, which funds county-level efforts to redirect people away from the criminal justice system before formal charges are filed.1Oregon State Legislature. HB 4002 2024 Regular Session Twenty-three counties covering roughly 84% of Oregon’s population indicated they would offer deflection for people arrested with less than five grams of a controlled substance. Completing the program’s treatment requirements results in dismissal and expungement. The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission tracks arrest, prosecution, and deflection outcome data.
That is where the real leverage in the current system sits. Someone who cooperates with deflection avoids a criminal conviction. Someone who refuses or fails out faces the misdemeanor and probation. The structure gives prosecutors and police room to prioritize recovery for people willing to engage, while keeping criminal consequences as a backstop.
Federal Drug Law Was Never Affected
Nothing in either Measure 110 or HB 4002 changed federal drug law. Controlled substances remain illegal under federal schedules, and federal agencies can prosecute drug offenses in Oregon regardless of state penalties. Federal prosecutors rarely target simple personal possession, but the authority exists. Federal employment and security clearance applications also treat drug involvement seriously; agencies like the ATF automatically disqualify applicants who used illegal controlled substances within the past five years.9Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Drug Policy
Has Any Other State Done the Same
No. Oregon’s four-year experiment with decriminalization remains the most significant test of that approach in U.S. history, and no other state has passed a comparable comprehensive measure. The debate Oregon started about treating addiction as a health issue rather than a criminal one continues across the country, but as a matter of law, Oregon stands alone, and the decriminalization window there has closed. The current Oregon system keeps criminal penalties on the books, makes probation the default, funds treatment at historically high levels, and offers deflection as a genuine path to avoiding a record for people willing to engage with recovery.