A Feb. 25 state Supreme Court ruling has struck down the Washington law that makes simple drug possession a crime.<\/p>\n
The now-stricken law made possession of a controlled substance a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a hefty fine. Five justices, led by Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud, said in the 5-4 ruling<\/a> the statute was unconstitutional because it doesn’t require prosecutors to prove that someone knowingly or intentionally possessed the drugs.<\/p>\n Local authorities can no longer arrest someone solely because the person has a few grams of heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine or other illegal drugs — unless, however, there is suspicion that the individual intended to deliver those drugs, according to Snohomish County Prosecutor Adam Cornell. About a half-dozen people will be released from his county’s jail “as soon as possible” as a result of the decision, Cornell said. Those inmates were awaiting trial for simple drug possession alone, or serving sentences after being convicted of only those charges.<\/p>\n Pending criminal cases in which simple drug possession is the only charge will also be dismissed, he said.<\/p>\n Prosecutors, public defenders, police and lawmakers across the state are delving into the far-reaching implications of the decision.<\/p>\n Convictions could be vacated for people found guilty of simple drug possession in the past. And there’s not yet a clear consensus on what the decision will mean for people who were given longer sentences for other crimes because of prior simple drug possession offenses — a common outcome of the state’s offender “scoring” system.<\/p>\n Under another state law, possession of a controlled substance remains illegal if there is intent to distribute, sell or otherwise deliver the substance. Police can also still arrest people for possession of drug paraphernalia, Cornell said.<\/p>\n Some municipal police departments in King County have responded to the ruling, noting officers will no longer make arrests for drug possession as they would have under the former law.<\/a><\/p>\n “From this point on, officers no longer have the authority to conduct a criminal investigation, effect an arrest, seek a search warrant, or take any other law enforcement action for simple possession of controlled substances. To clarify: simple possession of drugs has now been legalized,” according to Renton Police Chief Jon Schuldt’s post on the department’s Facebook page<\/a>. “I wanted you to be aware of the new constraints that our officers must now work under and ask for your understanding. The safety and well-being of our community continues to be our top priority, but as you can imagine this recent ruling will have a dramatic effect on our community. We will be contacting our state legislators in an effort to work together to amend the Supreme Court’s decision on this matter.”<\/p>\n Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney expressed shock in the ruling in a post to his Facebook page.<\/p>\n “I was notified this morning that the Supreme Court found Washington State law against drug possession to be unconstitutional. No, this is not a joke this actually happened today,” he said in the post<\/a>. “I have a meeting later in the day with our Prosecutor to try and work through what exactly this means moving forward. When I have more information I will share it but to speculate now wouldn’t be helpful.”<\/p>\n Island County Sheriff Rick Felici said in a written statement that the effects of the decision will be “widespread to say the least.”<\/p>\n “While it could be argued that this change will reduce the number of people incarcerated in the state, and that drug abuse is better treated as a public health issue, this change will also have an impact on the number of people who were motivated to get into treatment as a result of their arrest,” Felici wrote. It will also “impact law enforcement’s ability to ‘work their way up the chain’ to get to drug dealers,” he added.<\/p>\n State Rep. Lauren Davis, strategy director of the Washington Recovery Alliance, said the decision “gives renewed urgency to the conversation about our state’s response to untreated substance use disorder.”<\/p>\n Davis, a Democrat whose district includes Lynnwood and Edmonds, sponsored a bill this legislative session that would eliminate some of the criminal penalties for drug possession and expand treatment and support services.<\/p>\n “We must stop criminalizing symptoms of a treatable brain disease,” Davis said in an email. “Today’s decision does that. But that alone is insufficient. It is equally important that we build out a response to substance use disorder that truly works — a robust and fully funded continuum of care ranging from outreach to treatment to recovery support services.”<\/p>\n