Senate OKs bill to recriminalize drug possession, divert early offenders to treatment

The Washington state Legislative Building and Tivoli Fountain at dusk. Washington could become the first state in the country to provide a right to legal representation for low-income tenants facing eviction in housing court. THE OLYMPIAN

The Washington state Senate approved a bill Thursday that would make drug possession a gross misdemeanor and require diversion to treatment for a person’s first two offenses.

The measure comes in response to the state Supreme Court’s so-called Blake decision in February that made the state’s simple drug possession law unconstitutional.

While the proposal captured enough votes to move over to the House of Representatives for more consideration, it did not amass broad support and laid bare disagreements among lawmakers.

A majority of justices on the state Supreme Court found the state’s law was unconstitutional because it didn’t require prosecutors to prove an accused person knowingly or intentionally had drugs. The decision, known as State v. Blake, was released in the middle of the legislative session to immediate, widespread impact.

The 28-20 Senate vote on Thursday reflected the lack of consensus among legislators in how best to proceed: 14 Democrats voted for it, 14 against. Tim Sheldon, a Mason County Democrat who caucuses with Republicans, was a yes vote.

The original, struck-down law made possession of controlled substances a class C felony. The amended bill that passed out of the Senate would take that down to a gross misdemeanor.

The first two times someone is arrested for possession, the bill would require them to be diverted to a treatment program. If they’re arrested for possession again, treatment would be encouraged but not required.

The bill also would allow court commissioners to help resentence people convicted under the law that was deemed unconstitutional.

Sen. Manka Dhingra, who proposed the original bill, said earlier this week there was not agreement among lawmakers as to whether drug possession should be a criminal offense at all, and if it were, whether it should be a felony or gross misdemeanor. There’s also a sticking point in how people might access treatment, whether it be through the criminal justice system or otherwise, she said.

Dhingra’s original proposal would’ve banned public use of controlled substances and possession by minors and allowed law enforcement to refer people with small amounts of controlled substances toward treatment.

She ultimately did not vote for the version of her bill that passed Thursday, after an impassioned speech in floor debate. She emphasized the racial impact of the state’s drug laws and a need for an approach that offers people access to treatment outside of the criminal justice system.

“I have higher expectations for my family, for my children, and for this state,” Dhingra while speaking to her no vote.

What passed was a proposal from Sen. Jamie Pedersen of Seattle — in the end, though, he didn’t vote for it either. An amendment from Minority Leader Sen. John Braun of Centralia, in part, did away with a key expiration date.

The recriminalization in his version of the bill would’ve lasted for two years, Pedersen explained to McClatchy. Then, the Legislature would’ve looked at a work group’s report and made decisions around a permanent system. If the Legislature couldn’t agree on that system, it would’ve defaulted to an idea similar to what was in Dhingra’s bill, with some amount of drugs remaining legal to possess.

“We know that the criminal law approach has not helped, and it has been a failure, and I don’t think that is or should be the long-term solution,” Pedersen told McClatchy after the vote. “I am hopeful that as the bill continues through the process that it’s going to change to the point that by the end of session I can vote for it.”

Braun gave an impassioned speech as well on Thursday, saying he thought the bill was in a place that would make communities safer and save lives, detailing a personal story of a nephew who struggles with substance abuse issues.

“I think, even from different political perspectives, you can admit that the war on drugs has not served us well,” he said. “We aren’t getting it right and people are suffering.”

Following the Supreme Court’s decision, at least a few jurisdictions immediately started pursuing local action to recriminalize drug possession. Lawmakers have consistently voiced that there needs to be state action on the issue this session to avoid a patchwork of such approaches.

“Anybody that’s serious understands this has to be dealt with before we leave,” Braun said this week.

Time is not on their side: The 105-day session is scheduled to adjourn April 25 — 10 days after the Senate’s vote — and they have budgets to finalize and other policy priorities in play.

The bill now moves to the House, where Democrats this week introduced their own proposal to address the Supreme Court decision.

Source: https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/politics-government/article250713744.html

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