Drug treatment

September 1 is not that far away. It is the day the new Oregon misdemeanor kicks in that recriminalizes drug possession. Will Deschutes County be ready?

Yes and maybe.

As of last week, representatives from the county’s justice system expressed a mixture of optimism and concern about having a new path to treatment in place when the law goes into effect.

House Bills 4002 and 5204 walked Oregon back from Ballot Measure 110. State Rep. Jason Kropf, D-Bend, was one of the legislative leaders that shaped them.

The bills recriminalized small amounts of drug possession. The bills also gave counties the option to create deflection programs to move people off a path to jail and onto a path toward treatment. Basically, if a person was suspected of being in possession of drugs, they could successfully complete addiction treatment and no criminal charges would be filed.

Deschutes County officials have been setting up a deflection program, thanks to the efforts of Deschutes County behavioral health; the sheriff’s office; community corrections; the district attorney’s office; providers, such as BestCare and Ideal Option, and more.

Capt. Michael Shults of the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office told the county’s public safety council last week that the decision was made to start small and grow.

Bend Police Chief Mike Krantz praised the efforts but was concerned.

“I think we all know this is a very short timeline for all of this to work and be set up,” he said.

He was worried about long-term funding needed to keep the program going. More immediately, he was worried that his officers would need time to be trained on new procedures and policies to follow before Sept. 1, yet some decisions about the program had not been finalized.

“September is aggressive,” Krantz said.

“A reality check,” summarized Phil Chang, Deschutes County Commissioner.

The part that Measure 110 got right is that people struggling with addiction should get treatment. And in September, the Deschutes deflection program will begin its big test.