February 19—One of the most noteworthy political and social experiments of recent years has been playing out in Oregon, which largely decriminalized possession of psychoactive substances following a 2020 referendum. The bill redirected funds to treatment programs, but these have been slow to ramp up, and a sharp increase in overdose deaths is now causing Oregonians to reconsider their course. TSD, which supports the decriminalization of psychoactive substances, hopes that Oregonians will find measures, other than criminalization, to guide substance addicts to healthier lifeways.

A recently released study finds that right-to-carry laws have led to increased levels of gun violence in the states where they are enacted, reports Patt Morrison in this Los Angeles Times column.