Three years after Oregon voters elected to decriminalize drugs, a new study has concluded that the first-in-the-nation law has not led to increased drug use or drug overdoses. The conclusion counters an increasingly common narrative that Oregon’s drug problem is unique in the country — and that decriminalization is to blame.| opb
Dan Neumann contributed reporting to this piece. Gov. Janet Mills issued a series of vetoes Wednesday on bills passed by the legislature, including a measure to close Maine’s last youth prison, a tax fairness bill to bolster underfunded affordable housing programs, and legislation that would prevent companies owned by foreign governments from conducting electioneering on| Maine Beacon - A project of the Maine People's Alliance
The Maine Senate voted 18-14 Wednesday night to kill a bill that advocates say would have begun to move Maine away from decades of failed, punitive “War on Drugs” policies by decriminalizing possession of scheduled drugs and making it a civil violation. Senate President Troy Jackson of Aroostook County, Sen. Ned Claxton of Androscoggin, a| Maine Beacon - A project of the Maine People's Alliance
The top legislative priority for the recovery community this session as the state’s grim toll of overdose deaths continued to mount was a bill to permit harm reduction health centers, also known as safe injection sites, where people can use previously obtained drugs under medical supervision. Proponents say such facilities are one piece of an| Maine Beacon - A project of the Maine People's Alliance
Advocates in the recovery community announced Wednesday that they had come to an agreement with Gov. Janet Mills on a bill to save lives by creating additional protections from prosecution at the scene of an overdose. They said the deal they reached will help fight Maine’s opioid epidemic by enacting one of the strongest Good| Maine Beacon - A project of the Maine People's Alliance
