![“Odd,” “Unnerv[ing],” “Disturbing,” Comments, Post, and Letter to Politician Weren’t “True Threats”](https://d2eehagpk5cl65.cloudfront.net/img/q60/uploads/2021/11/the-volokh-conspiracy.jpg)
The Washington Supreme Court docket successfully decriminalized drug use two years in the past, when it dominated {that a} state regulation making easy possession a felony even with out proof of intent or information violated the fitting to due course of. State legislators predictably seen the results of that call as insupportable, and so they promptly authorised a regulation that made possession a misdemeanor on the third offense and required that remedy be supplied in lieu of punishment the primary two instances round.
That regulation is scheduled to run out on July 1, which prompted a bipartisan panic on the prospect that individuals may be capable to use medication with out risking legal penalties. Throughout a particular one-day legislative session convened this week to keep away from that nightmare situation, legislators authorised a brand new invoice criminalizing drug possession, which Gov. Jay Inslee instantly signed into regulation—”simply in time,” he says.
Whereas Washington legislators seen inadvertent decriminalization as a disaster requiring an emergency response, Oregon intentionally applied that coverage after voters authorised it by a large margin in 2020. That initiative made Washington’s southern neighbor the primary state to eradicate legal penalties for low-level possession of all medication. As an alternative it prescribed a $100 civil high-quality, which drug customers can keep away from by agreeing to bear a “well being evaluation” at an “habit restoration heart.” That evaluation, which is meant to “prioritize the self-identified wants of the shopper,” may end in a remedy referral, however compliance is voluntary.
Washington’s new regulation, in contrast, makes easy possession a gross misdemeanor, which is punishable by as much as 364 days in jail and a $5,000 high-quality. That’s much less onerous than the regulation that the Washington Supreme Court docket overturned in 2021, which prescribed as much as 5 years in jail and a $10,000 high-quality. However the brand new regulation is harsher than the short-term measure it would exchange, which established most penalties of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 high-quality for the third offense.
In accordance with Washington State Fraternal Order of Police President Marco Monteblanco, an even bigger stick is critical to beat drug customers into submission. “Elevating drug possession from a misdemeanor to a gross misdemeanor will present further affect to get individuals off the streets and into remedy,” he explains. “The invoice gives peace officers avenues to maintain people in want of remedy out of jail and our emergency rooms.”
Inslee, a Democrat, likewise claims the brand new regulation “balances remedy and accountability” by threatening drug customers with jail except they comply with get the assistance that the state insists they want. Critics of the regulation complained that it provides prosecutors an excessive amount of discretion to insist on punishment as a substitute of remedy. However even when arrestees are allowed to select between the 2, that pressured selection stands in sharp distinction with Oregon’s coverage, which relies on “self-identified wants.”
The issue with that strategy, as Inslee sees it, is that drug customers can’t be trusted to determine for themselves what they want. “Medicine have stolen free will from a few of these people,” he says. “However we love them. We look after them. And we need to assist.”
By denying that drug customers have the capability to make their very own selections, Inslee justifies a coverage that overrides their autonomy and ignores their preferences. His plan to revive the “free will” of “these people” entails forcing them, below the specter of jail, to simply accept the “assist” that the state is providing, whether or not they need it or not. Though that may appear to be kidnapping and extortion, Inslee insists it’s an act of affection.
Notably, that coverage doesn’t apply to drinkers, who will not be pressured into remedy just because they’re caught with liquor. Nor does it apply to hashish customers, since Washington legalized leisure marijuana again in 2012. It applies solely to individuals who use psychoactive substances that the state has deemed past the pale.
Inslee assumes that individuals caught with unlawful medication have an issue that requires “remedy,” no matter whether or not they agree with that conclusion. These people may be individuals with life-disrupting habits, or they may be informal customers whose largest drug-related drawback is getting busted. Both manner, they will keep away from punishment solely by accepting Inslee’s love. That is what passes for enlightened and compassionate drug coverage in america.
