Not going to bother arguing with someone who's clearly never seen the problem first hand.
yes but your anecdotal evidence is built on cognitive bias
lets be honest here all the points you have made regards to Kamala Harris are Trump / Republican talking points.....the things you say arent base on evidence, but based on bias, they are opinions, not factual evidence
regarding Oregon, you havent looked at the detail, the nuance, your argument is simplistic binary political tribalism.
The reality is that the war on drugs is lost, if America continues to criminalise drugs all it maintains the huge criminal activity and it means lots of people taking drugs end up in jail and the problem is just removed from society until they come out.
maintaining the status quo is not the solution
And making drug decriminilisation a tribal political point solves nothing
Of course I might just point out that the USA prison service is privatised and the main companies that own the jails.....donate to Trump and Republicans.
America has a privatised jail system, those companies have a business model that means more people in prison means more profit
you have to ask yourself why America has the worlds largest prison population
lets look at the facts
1) drugs were never decriminalised in Oregon:
"In 2020, Oregon voters approved Ballot Measure 110, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of drugs, like fentanyl and methamphetamine, in the state. Under the 110 system, drug users no longer received criminal penalties, but were instead served with a $100 ticket, which could be voided if the recipient got a needs assessment."
2) the law has not been simply reversed
"While some parts of Measure 110 are still in effect, lawmakers made significant changes. Enter House Bill 4002, which
Gov. Tina Kotek signed into law April 1. Possession under the new law is once again a misdemeanor crime, but the statute also sought to deliver on the promise of treatment outlined in Measure 110. The bill allocated millions of dollars for counties to establish so-called “deflection programs” to do just that."
3) it seems the problems have been a result of poor implementation and not simply decriminalisation leading to issues
"Some evidence suggests that the law itself was hampered by poor implementation—a joint
investigation by Oregon Public Broadcasting and ProPublica earlier this year found state leaders failed to implement initiatives to connect those fined by law enforcement with services, and that training for law enforcement on their role in the process was lacking. A 2023
state audit on the measure suggested that funding was slow to roll out and that many of the required services for those struggling with abuse were not running at full capacity."
4) some studies have shown there isnt a direct link, some show a link, its certainly not clear
This study found no evidence of an association between legal changes that removed or substantially reduced criminal penalties for drug possession in Oregon and Washington and fatal drug overdose rates.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesf...-walking-back-its-drug-decriminalization-law/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37755815/
https://www.opb.org/article/2024/09...ut in the four years,to make the measure work.