BEND, OR -- Ten days after Oregon's drug re-criminalization law took effect, Deschutes County's District Attorney says people caught with user-amounts of drugs have been charged with the new misdemeanor. "I don't have an exact number, but it's in the tens, at this point, of people who have been arrested or cited to appear. There have also been a number of referrals to treatment." D.A. Steve Gunnels says some of those eligible for deflection have chosen to accept treatment instead of jail time, "If the treatment providers say the person is doing well, has done everything they're supposed to do, I've agreed that I won't file a criminal charge, if the problem is essentially resolved, at least for the moment, with the drug use." He tells KBND News, "I'm leaving that decision up to treatment providers, if it's a reasonable recommendation based on the performance of the person in treatment."

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For most people caught with user-amounts of drugs, Gunnels says, the decision to participate in deflection occurs at the jail, "The Deschutes County Sheriff's office has taken on the role of the manager of this program, so that they would make the referral to treatment. Treatment people would come to the jail, pick up the individual, take them to treatment, if they're amenable to treatment. " But, police can forgo jail and take the person directly to treatment, "There's a place, here in Bend, where the individual can be just dropped off at treatment by the police officer. And that's happened. That happened on Friday of last week; that's the first of those instances that I've heard about. And that individual is reportedly doing very well in treatment."

He and local law enforcement talked recently with service providers about how many clients they can take, "Drug treatment providers assured our group that they had enough capacity to handle the maximum amount of people who could be referred to this program, given the historical trends prior to Measure 110, which was in the range of 700 people per year."

Gunnels says he knows some may get caught with drugs again, even after completing deflection, "The person can be just referred to court. Or if the police officer believes that, actually, treatment just didn't take the first time, the police officer, in their discretion, can say, 'I'm willing to give you another chance to get back into treatment'." He says the goal is to provide every opportunity for the person to accept treatment and be successful.