“New Oregon law decriminalizing drugs seen as a step in the right direction by advocates on reform.”

Dessa Bergen-Cico, associate professor of public health in Falk College, was quoted in The San Diego Union-Tribune piece “New Oregon law decriminalizing drugs seen as a step in the right direction by advocates on reform.” Bergen-Cico, an expert on mental health and addiction, joins the Q & A style article to discuss the new drug law changes. Bergen-Cico believes the decriminalization laws are a step in the right direction, and that the state “should clear the criminal records of people charged with possession so that people are not prohibited from employment, education, housing, financing, voting and other barriers that a criminal record can present for people.”