I was considering supporting Betsy Johnson for governor. I couldn’t support far left Tina Kotek and am not enamored with RINO Christine Drazan. But then Johnson announced that she would repeal Measure 110.

Measure 110, which decriminalized possession of certain hard drugs, was a really bad idea that has caused much harm in our state. Sold to voters as an anti-racist measure (apparently making hard drugs illegal is racist), it has never accomplished its promised benefit.

Quite the opposite: It paved the way for increased drug trafficking and exacerbated homelessness and crime. Ask any district attorney.

Oregon’s overdose deaths rose by 40 percent last year compared to 16 percent nationwide. Fewer than 1 percent of Measure 110 interactions have resulted in the apprehended person exploring recovery options, which was the prime directive of the measure. By any analysis, Measure 110 has been a costly abject failure and has left personal tragedy in its wake.

But Measure 110 was a voter mandate. To me, the most egregious sin an elected official can commit is supporting the repeal of a voter mandate. That’s what Johnson says she’ll do. It’s what Kotek and every Lane County Democrat in the Legislature have done repeatedly. That’s just another example of how they consistently demonstrate what the Bend Bulletin called “protracted contempt for the voters.”

The only legitimate way to overturn a voter mandate is to put it back before the voters. Knowing what we now know, Measure 110 would be an excellent candidate.

Jerry Ritter

Springfield

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