Washington State Government Working Group renews its calls for officials to step up and ensure that “a regulated supply of tested controlled substances is available to individuals who are at risk of overdose.” The working group points to several policy options created in the last few years.
In a recent report, members stated that one of the main goals for the reform is to make sure substances are consumed as safely as possible and minimize the harms caused by drug criminalization. In addition, the changes will aim to curb thefts, small crimes and syringes litter that are often related with illicit drug activities.
According to The Center Square the group’s recommendations for safe supplies were presented at a recent meeting, however, this proposal is nothing new. According to The Center Square, the state Substance Use Recover Services Advisory Council (SURSAC), which was created by a law in 2021, made a recommendation the next year to decriminalize possession of controlled drugs.
At the 2022 SURSAC meeting, four different frameworks for safe drug supply were proposed, including prescriptions and self-administration (self-administration), a dispensary and community-based buyer’s clubs.
Washington State Health Care Authority (SURSAC)
Travis Couture, a Republican legislator who represents The Center Square in Washington D.C., told The Center Square he opposed the state playing a part in efforts to ensure sanity in supply. He added that SURSAC seemed uninterested by other options.
The state is giving out heroine, fentanyl, and meth for free on taxpayers’ dime.
Couture said, “That’s not treatment. It’s surrender.”
SURSAC is calling for a study by scientists and the implementation of a pilot supply program that ensures safety.
After the 2021 Washington Supreme Court decision that declared Washington’s drug possession law unconstitutional, a subset of Democratic legislators briefly considered decriminalizing simple possession of drugs. In its place, lawmakers chose to charge possession with a lower crime. Since then, the lawmakers have become more reluctant to push for sweeping reforms like decriminalization.
Early this year also, there were still uneven developments in the entire state regarding the requirements for the revocation of thousands of previous criminal convictions after the Supreme Court decision.
A cut in a budget bill for the state eliminated $5 million from support to legal aid organizations working on clearing efforts.
InvestigateWest reported at the time that “it’s a heart-punch.” Camerina Zorozua is the co-founder and legal director of The Way to Justice in Spokane, which has been relying on this funding since 2021. “The rug has been pulled out under us.”
In the past year, Democrats in state government have also abandoned a proposal that would legalize home-grown marijuana for personal consumption. They chose to classify this conduct as a crime.
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If HB1449 had been passed, Rep. Shelley Kloba’s bill would have permitted adults aged 21 or older to grow six cannabis plants in their homes for personal consumption. Households could not exceed 15 plants, no matter how many adults lived on the premises. Many people could keep marijuana grown from those plants, even though the current state law limits possession to one ounce.
Kloba, along with other legislators who support the idea, have been working for almost a decade on a bill that would allow adults to cultivate a limited number of marijuana plants. However, each year other legislators and agencies have blocked the plan.
Dima Solomin is the photographer.
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