Joint statement opposing DDA Nathan Vasquez’s request for funding to prosecute addiction misdemeanors

To: Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Peterson

From: Safety and Justice Oregon, Portland for All, Next Up Action Fund, Unite Oregon, Partners for Hunger Free Oregon, and Oregon Food Bank

Date: June 6, 2024

We oppose Deputy District Attorney Nathan Vasquez’s request to the Multnomah County Commission for an additional $1 million in funding to ramp up prosecutions of people who are suffering from addiction and in possession of drugs.

The Oregon Legislature passed House Bill 4002, a bill that promised pathways for treatment and recovery for people who are struggling with addiction. 

With his request, Nathan Vasquez wants to subvert the will of the legislature by criminalizing more people struggling with addiction before HB 4002 is even implemented — a move that shows Nathan Vasquez’s commitment to ramping up the war on drugs, and that oversteps both the official start of HB 4002 implementation and his tenure as District Attorney.

House Bill 4002 promises a commitment of deflection into treatment programs to which the state has already allocated $25 million; statewide numbers do not support an additional $1 million ask. Moreover, this budget request from the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office is highly unusual, as Deputy District Attorney Vasquez will not begin his role as District Attorney until his term begins in 2025.

While Oregon legislators rolled back decriminalization of drugs, HB 4002 promised to prioritize treatment, not jails. We know arrests and incarceration will have a disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable in our community and communities of color, and will do little to curb addiction in our community as treatment resources are still lacking capacity to take on new patients.

Vasquez’s inappropriate request to the commission comes devoid of facts, data, or analysis to support his request, which was also the pattern of all past Multnomah County DAs prior to Mike Schmidt. For too long this has also been the practice of law enforcement, playing off fear and enacting policies and practices that deepen racial disparities and are not backed by evidence or research. 

The Oregon Criminal Justice Commission estimates there will be about 3,000 cases statewide in the first year of HB 4002 which goes into effect on September 1, 2024. This leaves ample time for the county to see how the law impacts Multnomah County and adjust the budget in the 2025 cycle. 

Most urgently, Oregon and Multnomah County need to continue to ramp up investment in treatment programs funded under M110. Short of that, the deflection programs created in HB 4002 will be a path to jail, not treatment. 

We urge the commission to deny this request and focus resources on housing, treatment, and the community services that are most needed. 

###