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'Dying before our eyes': Overdose deaths push Oregon lawmakers to end drug decriminalization 'experiment'

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'Dying before our eyes': Overdose deaths push Oregon lawmakers to end drug decriminalization 'experiment'

Oregon is ready to end its “experiment” with drug decriminalization, according to one state senator. This comes as skyrocketing overdose deaths and public drug usage compelled the state legislature to re-introduce criminal penalties for possession in the Beaver State.

“About four Oregonians a day are dying because of overdoses,” state Sen. Tim Knopp, a Republican and minority leader in the upper chamber, told “Fox & Friends Weekend” on Sunday.

“The voters of Oregon were sold a bill of goods through an initiative that was on the ballot, and it decriminalized all hard drugs – fentanyl, heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine,” he said.

OREGONIANS SUPPORT ENDING DRUG DECRIMINALIZATION AMID RISING OVERDOSES, ‘RADICALIZED SOCIAL JUSTICE MOVEMENT’

The opioid epidemic continues to take America by storm. It even compelled Oregon lawmakers to walk back the state’s progressive drug decriminalization policy. (iStock)

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“Instead of treatment that the voters thought they were going to get for their family and friends who are on drugs and addicted, they ended up getting unbridled drug use, drug sales all over our major cities across Oregon, and it turned into an exponential increase in overdose deaths.”

The three-year decriminalization “experiment” began in 2020 when nearly 60% of voters supported the passage of Measure 110, which decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs like fentanyl, meth and heroin and made possession punishable by a maximum $100 fine. 

VOTERS’ REMORSE: BLUE STATE SURVEY SHOWS MAJORITY WANT TO RE-CRIMINALIZE DRUGS: ‘WE MADE AN ENORMOUS MISTAKE’

Oregon HB 4002 is now headed to Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek’s desk. (AP Photo/Craig Mitchelldyer, File)

The measure has since lost popularity as widespread concerns over the fentanyl crisis, homelessness and a decrease in public safety have entered the spotlight.

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“What we had is more crime, open drug use, open drug sales, and you see people pretty much everywhere on drugs, and, they were literally dying before our eyes on the streets of Portland and Eugene and Salem and major cities across Oregon. It’s been horrific,” Knopp said.

The Oregon Senate voted 21-8 in favor of recriminalizing hard drugs with HB 4002 on Friday, following in the footsteps of the state House with the bill receiving largely bipartisan support.

OREGON OPIOID DEATHS INCREASE 13X AFTER DRUG DECRIMINALIZATION LAW: ‘WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT’

According to Oregon Public Broadcasting, the bill also expands access to opioid withdrawal medications, creates addiction services facilities and enables prosecutors to “seek steep penalties for drug dealers.”

The bill now heads to Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek’s desk. 

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According to the report, Kotek has declined to make her stance on the bill clear, but she has previously signaled support for reinstating criminal penalties for drug possession.

Fox News’ Kassy Dillon contributed to this report.

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Oregon

2026 NFL combine: Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq runs fastest 40 by tight end since at least 2003

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2026 NFL combine: Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq runs fastest 40 by tight end since at least 2003


INDIANAPOLIS — Oregon’s Kenyon Sadiq ran the fastest 40-yard dash of any tight end at the NFL Scouting Combine since at least 2003, posting a blazing time of 4.39 seconds on Friday.

Sadiq’s official time bested the previous mark of 4.40 seconds, set by Vernon Davis in 2006 and tied by Dorin Dickerson in 2010.

The 6-foot-3 1/8, 241-pound Sadiq was expected to be a standout during the workout portion of the event, and he started the night with a broad jump of 11-1. It was the highest mark of the 2026 combine among tight ends before Vanderbilt’s Eli Stowers topped it a few minutes later with a jump of 11-3.

Sadiq shined in the vertical leap, too, jumping 43 1/2 inches, only to be outdone by Stowers shortly thereafter after he posted a jump of 45 1/2 inches, the best mark by a TE since at least 2003.

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Utah

Utahns first or eroding the Utah way? House OKs measure cracking down on illegal immigration

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Utahns first or eroding the Utah way? House OKs measure cracking down on illegal immigration


SALT LAKE CITY — A controversial Utah proposal to crack down on the presence of immigrants in the country illegally that had seemed stalled gained new life Friday, passing muster in new form in a relatively narrow vote.

In a 39-33 vote, the Utah House approved HB386 — amended with portions of HB88, which stalled in the House on Monday — and the revamped measure now goes to the Utah Senate for consideration.

The reworked version of HB386, originally meant just to repeal outdated immigration legislation, now also contains provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to tap into in-state university tuition, certain home loan programs and certain professional licensing.

The new HB386 isn’t as far-reaching as HB88, which also would have prohibited immigrants in the country illegally from being able to access certain public benefits like food at food pantries, immunizations for communicable diseases and emergency housing.

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Moreover, Rep. Trevor Lee, R-Layton and the HB88 sponsor, stressed that the new provisions in HB386 wouldn’t impact immigrants in the country legally. He touted HB88 as a means of making sure taxpayer money isn’t funneled to programming that immigrants in the country illegally can tap.

Rep. Lisa Shepherd, R-Provo, the HB386 sponsor, sounded a similar message, referencing, with chagrin, the provision allowing certain students in the country illegally to access lower in-state tuition rates at Utah’s public universities. Because of such provisions “we’re taking care of other countries’ children first, and I want to take care of Utahns first. In my campaign I ran and said Utahns first and this bill will put Utahns first,” she said.


If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us.

–Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful


The relatively narrow 39-33 vote, atypical in the GOP-dominated Utah Legislature, followed several other narrow, hotly contested procedural votes to formally amend HB386. Foes, including both Democrats and Republicans, took particular umbrage with provisions prohibiting immigrants in the country illegally from being able to pay in-state tuition and access certain scholarships.

As is, students in the country illegally who have attended high school for at least three years in Utah and meet other guidelines may pay lower in-state tuition, but if they have to pay out-of-state tuition instead, they could no longer afford to go to college.

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“If we stop young folks who have lived here much of their life from going to school and getting an education, it is really clear to me that we have hurt that person. It’s not clear to me at all that we have benefitted the rest of us,” said Rep. Ray Ward, R-Bountiful.

Rep. Hoang Nguyen, D-Salt Lake City, noted her own hardscrabble upbringing as an immigrant from Vietnam and said the changes outlined in the reworked version of HB386 run counter to what she believes Utah stands for.

“I fear that what we’re doing here in Utah is we are eroding what truly makes Utah special, the Utah way. We are starting to adopt policies that are regressive and don’t take care of people. Utahns are one thing. Citizens are one thing. People is the first thing,” she said.

Rep. John Arthur, D-Cottonwood Heights, said the measure sends a negative message to the immigrant students impacted.

“If we pass this bill today, colleagues, we will be telling these young people — again, who have graduated from our high schools, these kids who have gone to at least three years of school here — that you’re no longer a Utahn,” he said.

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If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways.

–Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland


Rep. Kristen Chevrier, R-Highland, said the debate underscores a “fallacy” about compassion. She backed the reworked version of HB386, saying Utah resources should be first spend on those in the country legally.

“If we are compassionate to those who come the legal way and we are compassionate to those who already live here, that does not mean that we lack compassion for others in other ways,” she said.

The original version of HB386 calls for repeal of immigration laws on the books that are outdated because other triggering requirements have not been met or they run counter to federal law.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Washington

Man charged with shooting co-worker in Washington Heights

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Man charged with shooting co-worker in Washington Heights


A 26-year-old man had an argument with a co-worker before allegedly fatally shooting the colleague in Washington Heights, prosecutors said Friday.

Bobby Martin, who was charged with first-degree murder Thursday, made his first appearance Friday in Cook County court.

Martin, is accused of killing his co-worker, Antoine Alexander, 32, in a parking lot at 9411 S Ashland Ave about 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to Chicago police.

Prosecutors said Martin and Alexander worked together at an armed security company and got into a verbal altercation inside the guard shack on Tuesday afternoon. During the altercation, prosecutors said Alexander removed his bullet proof vest and threw it to the ground. A witness, another co-worker, then told the defendant and the victim to take the altercation outside.

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After stepping outside, the defendant pulled his firearm and fired one shot into the victims abdomen, prosecutors said. The victim’s firearm was holstered at the time of the argument and the shooting. The defendant fled the scene and came into contact with another co-worker, whom he told that he had just shot Alexander.

Alexander was then taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead.

Martin was arrested by authorities three blocks from his home approximately 20 minutes after the shooting, prosecutors said.

Martin was detained and will appear in court again on March 17, authorities said.

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