Oregon decriminalized drugs in 2020. Now officials are declaring a fentanyl state of emergency

The governor of Oregon has declared an emergency in the city of Portland a few years after the state became the first in the nation to largely decriminalize drug use. 

Oregon paved the way as the first state to decriminalize drug use, passing Measure 110 in 2020. Instead of incarcerating drug users, the measure focused on addiction and recovery, with Portland police officers hand out citations for public drug use. People can have a chance for treatment and have their fines waived if they contact specific rehabilitation services, but calling that hotline is voluntary. 

"We've had three years of this law that has not delivered on the promise that voters thought they were getting," Washington County district attorney Kevin Barton said.