The New Era - All about Sweet Home since 1929

For the first time since Doug Marteeny became Linn County District Attorney in 2013, criminal offenses associated with methamphetamine and heroin did not top a list of felonies and misdemeanors prosecuted by his 13 attorneys.

However, that’s not because of a decrease in the use of illicit drugs in the county, according to Marteeny. It’s because Oregon voters passed a law in 2020 that turned most crimes associated with the possession of small amounts of heroin and meth into violations. 

“The biggest change we saw was due to the legalization of hard drugs,” he said. “The only way t...