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(Photo by Christopher Lemercier)
By The Skanner News | The Skanner News
Published: 01 March 2024

Today, legislators passed the Oregon Drug Intervention Plan (ODIP), a key session priority, with an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote of 51-7. ODIP gives law enforcement the tools they need to confiscate hard drugs and connect people to treatment.

The bill is based on the work of the Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response, formed by Speaker Dan Rayfield and Senate President Rob Wagner in September 2023 and co-chaired by Representative Jason Kropf and Senator Kate Lieber.

“We have tremendous momentum behind us to make a difference in the lives of Oregonians, by making our communities safer and healthier,” said Speaker Dan Rayfield (D-Corvallis). “In addition to investing in housing production and affordability, we’ve built a comprehensive plan to address the drug and addiction problem urgently with proven solutions that meet people where they are.”

You can find the full bill text, summary, and measure history here. Next, the bill heads to the Senate floor.

“We have incredible people doing incredible things in our communities in all parts of our state,” said Representative Jason Kropf (D-Bend). “With this bill and connected investments, we’re supporting them and helping to significantly expand their ongoing work, to move us into the next phase of our long-term commitment to establishing a sustainable treatment infrastructure that can efficiently get people from crisis to stability.”

House Bill 5204, the budget companion bill to House Bill 4002 and a key component of ODIP, also moves on to the Senate floor today after passing the House with a similarly overwhelming bipartisan vote of 54-2.

“Our long term underinvestment in these areas needed to be addressed,” said Representative Tawna Sanchez (D-N & NE Portland), co-chair of Joint Ways and Means Committee and a member of the Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response.

“This is one more step towards getting us to where we need to be.”

House Bill 5204 invests $211 million in shovel-ready projects and programs to expand behavioral health treatment capacity, apprenticeships and training for behavioral health workers, Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) in jails, addiction prevention programs and education, deflection-to-treatment programs, drug courts, and criminal justice system capacity. 

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