BEND, OR -- The Governor is expected to soon sign HB 4002 - one of several bills changing Oregon’s drug possession laws. Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels is pleased with the bill and its multiple opportunities for defendants to get into drug treatment instead of jail. "The system is bending over backwards to get them into treatment," he tells KBND News, "And if the person has any internal motivation to get into treatment, they will do it." Gunnels adds, "And, if they need the push of a judge telling them, "Look, if you don’t go to treatment, I’m going to put you in jail for six months.’ That is also available in this bill. So, I think that’s a positive thing for public safety in Oregon."

Prosecutors also pushed for what was called the Boyd-Hubbell fix. "There was a case that came out of the Oregon Supreme Court a few years ago that really made it difficult to prosecute Delivery of Controlled Substances, delivery of drugs in our communities," says Gunnels. Essentially, the ruling meant dealers could only be prosecuted if caught in the act of a drug sale. Under HB 4002, he says his office will again be allowed to prosecute dealers for possessing large amounts of controlled substances, even if not observed selling. "That is generally - that’s probably 90% of the cases we get are people who are in possession of drugs, they’re on their way to deliver them or they’re in their pockets and they’re going to deliver them." Gunnels says, "Under this new statute, it will be easy, because that is the new definition of Delivery, that covers what we thought Delivery meant for a number of years."

HB 4002 will take effect once it’s signed by the Governor. "There were a lot of people, a lot of entities that were approaching this bill - pro and con - to try to get various things inserted in it. And that’s why it’s a little bit complicated," says Gunnels, "But, at the end of the day, the re-criminalization of drugs will be a positive thing for the people who are addicted to drugs."

A separate bill increases criminal penalties for someone caught using drugs on public transit. 

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