Washington lawmakers considering new approach to drug possession law

Victor Mendez is a restoration coach in Omak, serving to individuals emerge from substance abuse.

To attach with individuals, he attracts on his personal story.

“I used to be addicted at a younger age of 13 years previous, from there I spent the following 32 years of my life out and in of jail,” Mendez mentioned.

A number of the time he served in California was for drug possession.

“I went to jail for 2 years due to a dime bag of heroin,” Mendez mentioned.

In Olympia, drug legal guidelines are beneath new scrutiny since a 2021 state Supreme Court docket ruling discovered Washington’s felony drug possession regulation unconstitutional.

Lawmakers responded by making possession of medication like cocaine and heroin a misdemeanor, requiring individuals be referred to remedy earlier than they’re charged.

That stopgap measure expires this yr, so legislators and Gov. Jay Inslee are on the lookout for a everlasting repair.

Proposals vary from re-writing a felony possession regulation to decriminalizing medication.

“I don’t assume complete decriminalization is the fitting method, and the reason being I feel we have to promote and allow individuals getting remedy to get off this chemical dependancy which is ruinous in peoples’ lives,” Inslee advised KIRO 7.

The governor says the potential of felony sanctions helps push individuals towards remedy.

“We would like remedy, that’s the final word decision. Having individuals sit in jail for 20 years shouldn’t be the answer, the answer is to interrupt their addictive habits,” Inslee mentioned.

Republican leaders hope for a bipartisan regulation, probably by making drug possession a gross misdemeanor, the place individuals face penalties in the event that they repeatedly refuse remedy.

“I feel there’s plenty of settlement broadly that we’re not right here about reinventing the warfare on medication, we’re attempting to get individuals into remedy and preserve them in remedy, but in addition a rising recognition that we are able to’t try this exterior the felony justice system,” mentioned Sen. John Braun (R-Minority Chief).

Mendez says ensuring individuals get remedy, like he ultimately did, is what issues most.

“An individual with a substance abuse dysfunction doesn’t want jail,” he mentioned.

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