Jackson County's deflection program as drug recriminalization takes effect

JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. – Drug recriminalization goes into effect September 1st, on Sunday. As part of House Bill 4002, counties are left to decide their own responses to addiction through deflection programs and some may even opt out of these deflection programs.

In Jackson County, a collaboration of law enforcement, public safety and treatment provider partners have developed a pilot plan for deflection. The program will work through referrals from law enforcement to a targeted pilot group.

This pilot group will be roughly 80 individuals on the Bear Creek Greenway who tend to have repeated encounters with officers. The program will help refer people to organizations like OnTrack and the ARC to provide treatment and recovery, but the deflection program will not start until October 7th. If someone is caught possessing drugs before then or does not qualify for the program, they will initially be charged with a misdemeanor but will have options from there. Jackson County Mental Health Division Manager, Jenn Inman said,

“They will be offered conditional discharge and if they agree to those conditions, they would be under supervision for the course of that discharge. And that’s another path into treatment and a way to resolve those charges.”

Inman said there are multiple ways into treatment and the priority is to get people help. Southern Jackson County State Representative, Pam Marsh echoed the same idea. She said the county’s deflection program plays to each resource’s strengths,

“We have strong partnerships between mental health, county health and human services, law enforcement, our addiction providers that preceded any of this measure 110 stuff. So, when we had the opportunity to engage with deflection, I think we had the right partners already geared up and ready to figure out what that means here in the county.”

Representative Marsh also said the deflection program is still a pilot program. She said the county will be ready to make changes in the future.