The path legislators chose in the wake of Oregon’s failed experiment with legalizing possession of illegal drugs with Measure 110 was state deflection programs. They are county-led efforts, including in Deschutes County, that attempt to guide – or deflect – people into treatment.

Some numbers about deflection programs stand out: $20 million and 1,118 people. The Legislature capitalized the program with $20 million in funding. Since the deflection programs launched last fall and through April 17, 1,118 people have been deflected.

You don’t have to crunch the numbers to know that works out to quite a bit to per person deflected, more than $17,000. And not everyone who is deflected successfully completes a drug treatment program and goes on to live happily ever after. Drug addiction is not easy to overcome. There are also great costs to society of not treating addiction that don’t show up in those two numbers.

Legislators were asking questions Wednesday about the numbers.

The message from Ryan Keck, interim director for Oregon’s Criminal Justice Commission, was that it is likely too early to judge deflection programs. Many counties acted quickly to get programs up and running. They are still learning about what works. Best practices are emerging, such as ensuring there is a “warm handoff” of a person into a treatment program, not just handing a person wrestling with drugs a card and telling them to make a phone call. Many programs struggled to be available 24/7 when they began.

Deflection programs are a smarter approach than just locking people up for possession of drugs. Legislators don’t seem poised to drop their support for them. They should keep the money flowing and look again at the numbers in another year, particularly for the number of people who have successfully completed deflection programs.