Nothing like a new war on drugs during an election year.
Next week the Seattle City Council will vote on whether to kickstart a new local front on the war on drugs by adopting a law criminalizing simple drug possession and public drug use. Submitted by Councilmembers Sara Nelson and Alex Pedersen, this ordinance would allow the Seattle City Attorney to prosecute these crimes in the Seattle Municipal Court.
Right now drug possession charges are handled by the King County Prosecutor, who in practice hasn’t been pursuing cases involving the possession of small amounts of drugs since 2018.
Why now?
The proposed law is in response to the state legislature’s special session earlier this month. After the Washington Supreme Court’s Blake decision in the winter of 2021 removed the state’s main drug possession law, the legislature adopted a temporary fix, making simple drug possession a misdemeanor until July of this year.
During the special session, lawmakers agreed on a more permanent resolution of the issue, making simple drug possession a gross misdemeanor, although a person’s first two offenses would be capped at 180 days of jail time instead of the usual 364-day limit.
