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Oregon spent funds meant for addiction services on prosecutors, police gadgets

As the state abandons decriminalization, treatment grants are going to sheriffs and district attorneys: ‘that might be two or three case managers’

However, legislators promised the law would not be a return to “business as usual” of the war on drugs and instead set up a $20m program called “deflection”, which would allow police to refer people facing possession charges to services rather than enter the criminal legal system. “The district attorney wants to think we can still arrest our way out of the problem,” said Fernando Peña, director of El Jardín, a non-profit that serves people with substance-use disorders and operates Oregon’s only recovery drop-in centers dedicated to Latinos, including one in Washington county. A team of navigators supports people entering deflection, getting them housing, clothing and food, then assessing their treatment needs, signing them up for healthcare and creating a plan for their recovery, said Chris Parosa, the Lane county district attorney.

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