Gov. Inslee announced this week that he will be granting commutations for drug possession convictions invalidated by a recent state Supreme Court decision.
Those with invalid drug possession convictions can petition Inslee to eliminate remaining supervision columbian.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from columbian.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
New Washington state law makes drug possession a misdemeanor
By RACHEL LA CORTE and GENE JOHNSON Associated Press May 13, 2021 3:45pm Text size Copy shortlink:
OLYMPIA, Wash. The jeans were from American Eagle, via Goodwill, and they were too short for their new owner, 6-foot Shannon Bowman.
So Bowman stitched a couple inches of denim onto the bottom of the legs and put them on for the first time two days after her friend had giv
House OKs plan to overhaul state s approach to drugs
GENE JOHNSON, Associated Press
FacebookTwitterEmail
SEATTLE (AP) The state House of Representatives on Saturday approved an overhaul of Washington’s approach to drug possession, after the Washington Supreme Court struck down its previous law as unconstitutional a ruling that left no prohibition on having small amounts of drugs, even for kids.
Many majority Democrats in Olympia saw the dramatic consequences of the ruling as an opportunity to address some of the harm the war on drugs caused, especially to communities of color. They sought to use it to expand access to addiction treatment and to put the state on a path to drug decriminalization.
WA Legislature OKs plan to overhaul state s approach to drugs
GENE JOHNSON and RACHEL LA CORTE
Associated Press
OLYMPIA (AP) The Washington Legislature on Saturday approved an overhaul of the state s approach to drug possession after the Washington Supreme Court struck down its previous law as unconstitutional a ruling that left no prohibition on having small amounts of drugs, even for kids.
The Democratic-led Senate voted on a mostly party line 26-23 vote and concurred with changes made in the House, sending the measure to the desk of Gov. Jay Inslee.
Senate Republicans decried the changes made in the House, which reclassify possession of controlled substances, including cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine, from the gross misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail that previously passed the Senate down to a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail. The previous law, before being struck down by the court, had made it a felony.