Mental Health and Drug Laws Signed into Law in Oregon
SALEM, Ore.– Oregon has six new laws that target mental health and drug addiction. Governor Tina Kotek explained their purpose, as she signed the bills into law.
Kotek said her message to Oregonians is that,“Your state my office wants to help.”
She said, “The pieces of legislation passed in this year’s legislative session do mark progress toward building a behavioral health continuum. A continuum of care that incorporates harm reduction, suicide prevention, stronger tools against substance among our young people and our adults, and improvements to the implementation of Measure 110.”
House bill 2513 which will increase staffing and speed up funding to support Measure 110. Voters approved it, decriminalizing small amounts of drugs like cocaine.
She also approved a new law that will expand access to opioid reversal medications.
State Representative Rob Nosse from Portland described it as, “Making life saving emergency treatments like naloxone more available.”
Other newly signed laws require Oregon’s hospitals and detox facilities to provide overdose reversal medicines to patients once they’re released, and make it mandatory to teach kids about the dangers of opioids. They also fund a crisis hotline, and a task force to study the impacts of alcohol abuse.
