Five years after Oregon voters approved Measure 110 to expand access to drug treatment and recovery services, state auditors report that health officials have not put systems in place to effectively track whether the law is achieving its goals despite having spent close to $800 million. The audit, issued by the Oregon Secretary of State’s audit division, is the final in a series of three assessing the state’s management of the 2020 drug decriminalization law.
The Oregon Health Authority has not implemented systems to track basic metrics, such as whether the number of treatment providers or services has increased since 2020. Grant reporting lacks standardized controls or verification, making it difficult to determine what effect, if any, grant funding has had. Without baseline data on service access and the number of providers from before Measure 110’s launch, state health officials cannot determine if access to care has increased—a basic metric required by the state legislature. Demographic information including race, ethnicity, age, and gender among patients was often incomplete or inconsistent, resulting in inequitable access to behavioral health services.
The audit found that Measure 110’s services are not well integrated into Oregon’s broader behavioral health system, leaving them fragmented and harder to manage. Multiple legislative changes and staff turnover have hindered the development of long-term strategies. In 2024, the health authority dissolved its Health Systems Division and created separate Medicaid and Behavioral Health divisions, a move auditors say led to more splintered operations and weakened oversight. About $800 million has been awarded since 2021, with the state awarding $391 million in grants to Measure 110 providers in the previous year.
Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read stated that while positive changes have occurred, “The Legislature needs to provide stability when creating policy” and the Oregon Health Authority needs to implement recommendations for more Oregonians to get into treatment. The auditors acknowledged that it was unrealistic to expect results within four years and called for better data collection and integration efforts to evaluate program effectiveness.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.salemreporter.com/2025/12/23/state-cant-show-progress-five-years-after-massive-drug-treatment-expansion-audit-finds/