Jackson County Sheriff reacts to proposed Measure 110 changes

JACKSON COUNTY, Ore.– House Bill 4002, a potential fix to the troubled Measure 110 is off to the governor’s desk after it was passed by the senate Friday and some local law enforcement officials are optimistic about it.

Jackson County Sheriff Nate Sickler believes this reform will help make Measure 110 into what it was supposed to be in the first place.

He said re-criminalizing drug possession and setting aside funding for treatment options and other programs is a step in the right direction.

Sickler said, “it’s going to help us from a law enforcement perspective, it’s going to help treatment providers because there’s going to be money available for that in a different bill, but it’s also going to encourage some thoughtfulness on how we braid all these systems together.”

Once the bills are signed into law, Sheriff Sickler said they will be more empowered to make arrests when necessary.

But the new laws would not go into effect until September.