The rise and fall of drug decriminalization in the Pacific Northwest

Host Vanda Felbab-Brown interviews Stanford professor Keith Humphreys about drug decriminalization in San Francisco, Oregon, and British Columbia. They discuss the origins and motivations for the dramatic policy change in 2020; the design of the policies, including the similarities with and differences from the decriminalization policies in Portugal; and the outcomes in the Northwest, including in terms of drug use, dealing, arrests, and property crime. Humphreys also explains what caused backlash against such policies and, ultimately, policy reversals. Humphreys emphasizes balanced policies, strong community engagement, and evidence-based public health service provision as the way forward.

Keith Humphreys holds the Esther Ting Memorial Professorship at Stanford University, receives research funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the Veterans Health Administration, and is a non-executive director of Indivior PLC. His views do not necessarily represent official policy positions of any of these organizations.

Show notes and transcript.

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