Lawmakers adjourned their regular session late last month after voting down a bill that would keep drug possession illegal and boost services for people struggling with addiction. A temporary law that makes possession of small amounts of drugs a misdemeanor expires on July 1, so if lawmakers fail to pass a bill, Washington would become the second state — after neighboring Oregon — to decriminalize drug possession. Public drug use is rampant in cities around the state, and deaths have soared. “Complacency is no longer an option.”The Washington Supreme Court in 2021 struck down the state law making drug possession a felony. It would have made clear that public health workers could not be prosecuted for giving out drug paraphernalia, such as clean glass tubes for smoking fentanyl.

Source: The Star May 03, 2023 08:01 UTC