December 5, 2023

Newberg, Ore. – Human rights attorney and former child abuse prosecutor, Will Lathrop, urged the Legislature to repeal Measure 110 and submitted the following testimony to the Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response:

Dear Members of the Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response,

I am not going to echo testimony regarding the people who died yesterday or today, or who will certainly overdose and die tomorrow–nor will I mention the scores of people who have died since the human experiment of Measure 110 first began. I am not going to write about the stream of fentanyl-addicted babies flooding maternity wards across Oregon and the heart-rending downstream effects of that growing disaster. However, I am going to offer my testimony on topics unique to my own profession as a former child abuse prosecutor—child abuse and organized crime.

Children whose parents use drugs are three times more likely to be physically, emotionally, or sexually abused (American Academy of Pediatrics: Clinical Report). They are also more likely to use drugs themselves, struggle in school, and to develop physical and mental disorders. In symmetry with our current addiction crisis, we have a child maltreatment crisis. Measure 110 took away law enforcement’s ability to reach children in homes of addiction and to rescue them from abuse and neglect–-and, has left them sitting ducks. A lot of testimony proffered has focused on addicts who make a choice to use drugs, but what about the children who have no choice? The drug culture wrought by Measure 110 is creating an atmosphere of generational drug use.

Fentanyl is not made in the US. It is brought here by international drug cartels. These crime syndicates are making millions of dollars by crushing families, hurting children, and destroying communities. Because of Measure 110, and because this legislature has stripped tools and resources from law enforcement, drug traffickers get a free pass in Oregon and have created a hotbed of child abuse.

We have a sacred duty to protect our children from the litany of abuses occurring in addicted homes and families across Oregon. You must repeal Measure 110 immediately to shift the tide and give communities hope for change.

Finally, drug traffickers should not become wealthy by exploiting addiction and crushing families. You must strengthen our laws and our punishments for people who make their money that way. If you care for our children, you must.