BOARDMAN — Locals have an opportunity Saturday, Feb. 17, to give their views on Measure 110.

Rep. Greg Smith, R-Heppner, is hosting a 90-minute listening session on the law beginning at 10 a.m. at the Port of Morrow Riverfront Center, 2 Marine Dr. NE, Boardman.

Smith announced the public event about a week after his appointment to serve on the Joint Committee on Addiction and Community Safety Response, joining members who have served on it for about a year already.

According to a press release, the committee will review Measure 110 and propose solutions to the public safety and behavioral health crises Oregon is facing. Smith said the appointment came as a surprise, and one of the ways he is catching up to his colleagues is by learning where his constituents stand on the issues covered by the committee.

Oregon voters in November 2020 passed Measure 110 to decriminalize most drug possession in the state. Oregonians across the political spectrum have offered mixed reviews on its effectiveness since the measure’s passage.

The goal of the upcoming listening session is to hear from residents in his district as well as people in the area with expertise in law enforcement, public safety and health care, Smith said.

He wants to know the impact — both good and bad — that Measure 110 has had on his constituents, and how the people he serves in District 57 want him to balance justice and mercy — legal repercussions and addiction treatment support.

“If someone has broken the law, there must be justice. We live in a society where justice must prevail,” Smith said. “At the same time, society gains nothing from incarcerating individuals with significant behavioral health or addiction issues without treatment.”

Smith said he hopes people whose careers involve areas Measure 110 affects will offer their expertise on what will or will not work in practice, even if it sounds like a nice idea in theory.

“What I’m hoping to do is have every participant pick one of those issues, one of those categories, and share with me their thoughts,” Smith said. “I want every citizen to have an opportunity to share with me what’s weighing heavy on their heart.”

Recently, members of both political parties have called for a review and possible amendments to the measure. The joint committee reviewing the ballot measure will be meeting twice per week — Mondays and Wednesdays at 5 p.m. — throughout the short legislative session, which ends on March 10.

Smith said he does not expect to have a perfect, final solution at the end of this short session.

“I’m hoping we will have a foundation of a solution that all Oregonians can say, ‘Yes, these are good first steps,’” he said. “But there’s no way in a six-week period of time we’re going to solve the crisis that is behavioral health and addiction and homelessness.”

Instead, he said he hopes the committee will have an idea of different possible solutions and their costs, both in terms of the actual pricing as well as the opportunity cost of spending the money in this area rather than another.

The first step of getting to those solutions and costs, Smith said, is testing the waters of his district’s perspectives in the listening session. Although it is scheduled to last 90 minutes, the representative said he wants to hear from each of his constituents who want to speak, no matter how long it takes.