A historic drug decriminalization and treatment project in Washington state overcame its first legislative hurdle on Monday, with a panel of lawmakers voting to advance the measure just hours before an important deadline.
The House’s Public Safety Committee voted 7–6 to pass the Pathways to Recovery Act, HB 1499, which would remove penalties for “personal use” quantities of illegal substances and expand extension and recovery services. The vote is the first time that a panel of lawmakers in any U.S. state has voted to remove criminal penalties for possession of all drugs.
“This bill is an assertion that substance use disorder is a treatable brain disease from which people recover,” said principal sponsor, Dep. Lauren Davis (D), before the vote. “This bill aims to reach all people who live with a substance use disorder, even before they come into contact with the criminal justice system.”
Voters in neighboring Oregon passed a similar measure last year, expanding treatment and replacing criminal penalties for small amounts of drugs with a $ 100 fine or referral for treatment. Washington’s proposal, by contrast, does not include a fine.
Instead, the project would dramatically expand extension and recovery services, part of what advocates call holistic “ongoing care” to support people with drug use disorders. Although Washington has a relatively strong drug treatment system, they say, the state has long neglected funding for proactive extension and long-term recovery.
“We financed one leg of a three-legged stool,” Davis said at a previous committee hearing on Friday, in which lawmakers testified about the proposal. “We pay for treatment repeatedly, because insurance covers it, but we fail to fund extension on the front end and support services for recovery on the back end that are absolutely critical to promoting sustained recovery.”
Watch legislators and advocates discuss the drug decriminalization project below:
Lawmakers and advocates introduced the measure earlier this month, after struggling to finalize the writing of the project and its sponsors. Treatment First Washington organizers originally planned to put the proposal on the ballot last November, but the coronavirus pandemic halted the signature collection effort, and last summer the group announced that it would take the proposal to lawmakers.
–
Marijuana Moment is already monitoring more than 600 bills on cannabis, psychedelics and drug policies in state legislatures and Congress this year. Patreon supporters who promise at least $ 25 / month have access to our interactive maps, charts and audition schedule so they don’t miss out on any development.
Learn more about our marijuana project tracker and become a Patreon supporter to gain access.
–
Despite attracting two dozen House sponsors (including a lone Republican, Rep. Carolyn Eslick), the HB 1499 hardly came to a vote throughout this session. After the committee’s hearing on Friday, Deputy President Roger Goodman (D) told Marijuana Moment that the panel was unlikely to approve the measure because it was introduced too late in the session. On Sunday, however, it was added to the committee’s schedule.
“This late presentation caused major upheavals,” said Goodman, who voted in favor of the project, at Monday’s hearing. “On behalf of the rest of the committee, I apologize.”
The bill’s hearing on Monday was also not particularly peaceful. The panel initially approved an amendment that would have removed the decriminalization portion of the bill, more or less destroying the general thrust of the legislation. Within minutes, however, Democrats met in a caucus meeting and then moved to reconsider the vote, and Congresswoman Tina Orwall (D) switched to a “no” vote on the amendment, defeating it.
Finally, the panel put forward an updated version of the bill, which includes a number of changes from the original. Among them, substitute legislation delays the implementation of decriminalization for six months, from December 1, 2022 to July 1, 2023.
The regulators of the state Health Authority (HCA) would have until April 1, 2023 to adopt rules and define how much of each drug constitutes a “personal use amount”. A panel of public defenders and prosecutors, along with people who currently use illegal drugs and others who are in recovery, would advise the HCA on this decision.
The substitute also explicitly states that decriminalization would not prevent employers from establishing or enforcing rules against drug use. And it removes an earlier provision that would have allowed people with previous drug convictions to have those records eliminated without meeting the requirements of current law for the cancellation of convictions. Individuals could still have their convictions eliminated under the bill, but they would not be exempt from existing rules.
See the committee’s debate and vote on the drug decriminalization project below:
Opponents have argued that by removing the threat of criminal sanctions, the HB 1499 goes too far.
“The way the project is currently drafted,” said MP Gina Mosbrucker (R) on Monday, “if you go to a police officer and hold a bag of heroin, meth or fentanyl – right in front of your face – you you can just go. And it seems wrong on so many different levels. “
Others argued that removing penalties could really harm drug users, “I saw incarceration save many, many lives,” said Rep. Brad Klippert (R), a military and police veteran.
Mosbrucker and Klippert voted against the bill, along with representatives Jenny Graham (R), Dan Griffey (R), John Lovick (D) and Jesse Young (R).
Congresswoman Tarra Simmons (D), who voted in favor of the change, said that in her experience as someone in recovery, criminalization only prevents people from getting help.
“As a person who is now 9 and a half years recovering from substance use disorder that included opioids, meth and marijuana,” she said, “I remember wanting help, but being afraid because it was a crime.”
Despite the hesitation of some in applying the law, others said the project made sense. King County District Attorney Dan Satterberg, for example, told lawmakers that prosecuting people for such small amounts of drugs “just isn’t an effective strategy” to fight overdose use or deaths.
“This is a gram,” he said, holding a single packet of Splenda to emphasize the relatively small amounts of hard drugs that would be allowed by law. “It is not a jaguar, it is not a kilo. It is a miniscule amount consistent with the need to use drugs daily. “
Several international drug experts also attended last week’s hearing. Ruth Dreifuss, former president of Switzerland and a member of the United Nations Global Drug Policy Commission, began her comments by expressing “my deep appreciation for the quality of the proposed bill of the House”.
“The free choice of who controls their consumption and does not harm others must be respected,” said Dreifuss. “For those who are addicted, access to treatment must be guaranteed.”
Also speaking in favor of the project was João Augusto Castel-Branco Goulão, the national drug coordinator for Portugal, the first country to decriminalize all drugs.
In response to questions from skeptical lawmakers about how decriminalization had occurred in that country, he argued that the country saw “a clear improvement in all available indicators”. Overdose deaths have declined, drug use among young people has declined and the estimated number of people with drug use disorders has declined, he said.
The next step in the project is the House Rules Committee and potentially a plenary vote.
Some other state legislatures are also considering similar reforms. A Kansas lawmaker last week introduced a measure to replace criminal penalties for simple drug possession with a $ 100 fine. People caught with drugs other than marijuana would be referred for mandatory treatment, and failure to comply would be a contravention.
In New York, a Senate bill introduced last month would decriminalize the low-level possession of any controlled substance and impose $ 50 fines instead.
Activists across the country have also sought a more targeted model of decriminalization to lower the priority of enforcing laws against naturally produced psychedelics, such as psilocybin and ibogaine.
A Republican lawmaker in Iowa introduced a bill last week to remove psilocybin from the list of controlled substances.
In California, a lawmaker said late last year that he planned to present a bill that would decriminalize psychedelics. And activists hope to see more legislation to largely remove criminal penalties for simple drug possession.
Lawmakers in Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Texas and Virginia are also considering drug and psychedelic policy reform projects for the 2021 session.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Goodman, the chairman of the committee that approved the decriminalization bill on Monday, told Marijuana Moment that the state “will continue to press hard and ride the wave.”
“Washington State will lead the way as we end the war on drugs,” he said.
New Mexico lawmakers approve marijuana legalization bill on committee
Marijuana Moment is possible with the support of readers. If you trust our marijuana advocacy journalism to stay informed, consider a monthly promise from Patreon.
