Washington lawmakers pass a bill to prevent drug decriminalization. Governor signs immediately.

On the first of the special session of the legislature, which was called to specifically address this issue, the lawmakers passed a new compromise version of Senate bill 5536. On Tuesday evening, Gov. Jay Inslee , the Democratic Governor of Washington State, had signed into law the bill and the special session was over.

Today, I signed SB5536. This bill was not written to fill up our jails but to fill up our treatment centers. We love them. Drugs may have taken away the free will of some Washingtonians but we care for them. We love them. And we want to help.https://t.co/Jspzzc7Rir

— Governor Jay Inslee May 17th, 2023

The Legislature was unable to reach a consensus during the regular legislative session this year. It ended late last month with lawmakers failing to pass a proposal in the session’s final hours, when the Democratic-controlled House couldn’t find the votes needed to pass a proposed new law.

According to a legislative assessment of the deal, it creates a gross offense for knowing possession or use in a public area. The compromise gives prosecutors the power to refuse pretrial diversion.

In a Senate Floor Speech, Sen. June Robinson (D-Everett) and sponsor of the Bill, said that the bill strikes a balance between enforcement and the treatment. She called the compromise, which was sponsored as an amendement to the bill that had been worked on for the entire year, a step towards improving substance abuse treatment.

She said, “I believe that this…amendment achieves that.” The measure was passed by the Senate with a vote of 43 to 6.

Later in the day, lawmakers in the Democratic-controlled House–who hadn’t been able to find the votes on the last night of session, leading to a collapse of the bill on the floor–likewise approved the new version.

Even the votes on Tuesday to send SB5536 to Inslee revealed a split in the political landscape.

Rep. Gerry Pollet (D-Seattle) voted against the final agreement after having supported previous versions. He criticised a part that allowed prosecutors to refuse drug diversion programs in certain cases. Pollet was concerned that the policy could negatively impact people of colour, and vowed to monitor these provisions.

Pollet said, “Today I rise and declare that we will be watching.” The House voted for the new compromise on Tuesday 83-13.

On the Senate floor, Mike Padden (R-Spokane Valley) called for a return of a felony possession drug statute.

The Washington Supreme Court struck the state’s felony possession of drugs statute down in February 2021. Blake decision was the name of the ruling by the Washington Supreme Court that invalidated a half-century’s worth of criminal convictions and related aspects such as required restitution. The Blake decision came at a time when lawmakers and society were rethinking the war on drugs in broader terms and looking for ways to improve treatment.

In order to provide a temporary solution, lawmakers and Gov. Inslee signed a bill that would make illegal possession a misdemeanor offense only after the third offense. Instead of arresting people for the first and second violations, law enforcement officials were instructed to provide treatment instead. This law expires on July 1.

Overdose deaths in Washington have been steadily increasing, even though lawmakers are struggling to reach consensus.

In an effort to improve drug treatment this year, legislators and the governor allocated more than 600 million dollars in new funding in the state budgets for treatment facilities statewide and behavioral health services.

Marco Monteblanco, of the Washington Fraternal Order of Police, said in a Tuesday statement that the final compromise ensures “a good balance of treatments, accountability, and consequences to address substance abuse disorders in our community.”

The bill gives peace officers the opportunity to keep people in need of treatment from going to jail or our emergency rooms.