In 2021, the Washington State Supreme Court declared the state’s drug possession laws unconstitutional. During the legislative session that year, legislators passed a temporary fix classifying drug possession as a misdemeanor, but police officers were required to refer offenders to treatment twice before bringing charges.
That law, known as the Blake Decision, sunsets in July 2023, so this topic took up a substantial amount of legislators’ time during this year’s session and financial resources in the final budget, with nearly $100 million dedicated to deal with court costs, settlements, and resentencing assistance to local jurisdictions.
Legislators were unable to pass the final compromise bill, SB 5536, which included a striker, after it worked its way through the legislative process and ended up in a conference committee. The bill failed by a dramatic vote of 43-55. No Republicans voted for the bill and 15 Democrats voted against it. Without new legislation, the current law would expire, and cities and counties would be left to adopt their own drug possession laws.
What was the issue? The House and Senate debated the classification of the crime as a gross misdemeanor vs. a misdemeanor, with the length of time offenders should serve ending up being the central area of disagreement. A gross misdemeanor is associated with the risk of more jail time – a maximum of 364 days vs. 90 days. Republicans did not like the bill because it contained provisions that would prohibit local jurisdictions from adopting ordinances that create restrictions on drug paraphernalia.
After weeks of intense negotiations between all four caucuses, Gov. Jay Inslee called legislators back for a special session and a bipartisan agreement emerged. On May 16, the first day of the special session, the legislature met and passed the compromise bill. The bill passed the House, 83-13, and passed the Senate, 43-6. You can view the bill as passed by the legislature here.
The final bill that passed:
- Designated the penalty for known possession of a controlled substance as a gross misdemeanor with the maximum confinement time reduced to 180 days for the first two convictions and conviction fines capped at a maximum of $1,000 (down from $5,000).
- Addressed the problem of open-air drug use in community spaces giving public use of drugs the same penalty as known possession.
- Encouraged referral to treatment programs including the recovery navigator program.
- Allowed cities and counties to enact laws or ordinances relating to the establishment or regulation of harm reduction services concerning drug paraphernalia.
- Streamlined the process for vacating convictions.
Legislators also allocated an additional $19 million fiscal note for substance abuse disorder treatment, housing and local jurisdiction costs.
Here is the House Democrats press release: Legislature passes special session compromise bill on drug possession and addiction treatment – Washington State House Democrats
Here is the House Republican perspective: Statement from Rep. Gina Mosbrucker on passage of new drug possession ‘Blake’ bill – Gina Mosbrucker (wa.gov)