Oregon voters decriminalize all drugs, as drug policy reforms win everywhere

Led by voters in Oregon, Americans from coast to coast voted by decisive margins to take steps to end the war against drugs. We’re moving closer to making this a country where people are no longer punished for what they put into their bodies.

Oregon voters approved two historic ballot measures. One will decriminalize the possession of all drugs, from marijuana and ecstasy to LSD and heroin — a model pioneered, mostly with good results, in Portugal, which treats drug addiction as a disease, not a crime.

Oregonians also approved a measure that will allow the medical use of psilocybin, the active ingredient in magic mushrooms. This creates an opportunity to show that psychedelic drugs can help treat mental disorders.

Marijuana victories

Meantime, New Jersey voted by a two-to-one margin to legalize marijuana, which will bring pressure on neighboring New York to do the same. So did Arizona and Montana, albeit by smaller margins, early returns showed. Mississippi — yes, Mississippi — legalized medical marijuana.

For their part, voters in Washington, D.C., approved a ballot measure telling police to lay off users of psychedelics. It says the local government should make the arrest or prosecution of people who…