Study: No link between PNW overdose deaths and drug laws

The study, published Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry, looked at drug overdose rates after Oregon decriminalized drug possession in February 2021 and after Washington stopped treating low-level drug crimes as felonies that same year.

Kevin Sabet, head of the Foundation for Drug Policy Solutions, told Axios Portland’s Emily Harris the new study is “limited” because it went through only March 2022, while overdose numbers he tracks showed an increase later that year.

Read the report here.