PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Two weeks after lawmakers voted to re-criminalize drug possession in Oregon, local leaders are breaking down the changes on the horizon, especially when it comes to either jail time or getting into treatment. Some of the biggest questions that remain since the HB 4002 passed — essentially rolling back parts of ballot measure 110 — include how these so-called deflection programs will work and how racial disparities will be prevented.

“Because deflection’s not mandatory in the counties, we’re all very concerned about the counties where they’re not going to set up deflection programs and what’s going to happen to the folks in rural Oregon,” Oregon Recovers executive director Mike Marshall told KOIN 6 News. 

On Friday evening, the district attorneys of Multnomah and Marion counties broke down the criminal justice side of things, like what deflection will look like. While seeing success in Marion County, it may need to look different in other counties.

“This works and if we can expand this model throughout Oregon, I think we change the landscape,” Marion Co. DA Paige Clarkson said.

Another concern is preventing further racial disparities.

Multnomah Co. DA Mike Schmidt says they’re looking at bringing BIPOC community organizations together to see how they can effectively help communities of color and maybe even create culturally-specific service providers.

“We can track in real time on a monthly basis, who is getting successfully deflected, who is getting conditional discharge, who is getting actually convicted,” Schmidt said.

Either way, those behind the next steps of the new drug laws in Oregon say it’ll take collaboration on all fronts to make this successful.

“The organizations here are strengthened when they sit and talk to people that are in other organizations,” Marshall said. “The problem in Oregon isn’t that the system is failing. It’s that it’s fractured and incomplete.”

Gov. Tina Kotek intends to sign this bill into law but hasn’t done so yet. Once signed, the misdemeanor charges for drug possession will go into effect on Sept. 1.